Illusions
by CrazyClouds
Summary: The Fates love to play games, and Perseus Jackson happens to be their favorite toy. He just wanted to live a normal(ish) life.
1. Chapter 1

My day began at 5:00 in the morning. _Way_ earlier than I normally wake up, but I had had a bad feeling the night before which kept me up most of the night. When the clock hit five, I realized I would get no sleep, and so decided to go for a nice, relaxing swim in the Long Island Bay. I changed into my normal Camp Half-Blood attire, then left my cabin without bothering to bring a towel. Perks of being the son of Poseidon, I could just will all the water off of me. I decided to walk slowly, and take in the sights of Camp at dawn.

The breeze was slow enough that it didn't even ruffle my hair. Apollo was crawling over the horizon, painting the sky a myriad of reds, oranges, yellows, and the occasional trace of purple. Looking to the west, I could still see the receding edge of the moon. Either Artemis was being slow today, or Apollo was impatient. Either way, it created a perfect picture.

Lost in my reverie, I hardly noticed my arrival on the beach until I was ankle deep in the water. I stood there for a bit, admiring the beautiful sky, the gentle lapping of the waves chasing away the remnants of my premonitions. I waited a bit, for the scenery to change slightly so I wouldn't feel too bad about ignoring it. It took about five minutes, which I managed to patiently wait out, content with observing the world around me. I haven't had many of these moments. Everyday, it was wake up, eat, train, eat, train, eat, hang out with friends while training, eat, hang out with Annabeth, then go to bed. It had gotten repetitive, but I sort of liked it. Back when I was on all those quests, I had no clue what would happen the next day, or if I would even be alive. This stability provided a prolonged sense of calm I couldn't find anywhere else.

Finally, the moon disappeared over the horizon, and the sun was in full view. The sky was now a uniform blue. The tranquil scene had passed, so I dove right into the Long Island Bay. Pumping my legs and arms, I traveled along the ocean floor to a place where the currents were strong and random, ever-swirling like a vortex. I allowed myself to be thrown about like a ragdoll, while using my makeshift night vision to avoid any rocks or submerged objects. After about ten minutes I had to stop, or risk hurling into the currents and having my upchuck sent into the depths of the ocean. Dad would not appreciate that at all, no matter how funny it would be.

I spent a long time chilling out on the sandy ocean floor, just watching the sky through the kaleidoscopic flowing water. It looked pretty cool. Glancing at my watch, which read _8:34 a.m_ , I decided I spent enough time in my Father's domain for today. After rotating myself so I was facing the sky, I kicked off the ocean floor, then willed the water to lend me speed. It took me just a few seconds to travel the hundred feet or so to the surface, and just for fun, I shot out the waves like a rocket. I went a good twenty feet into the air, before hardening the water spout that followed me and sat on it. I turned and faced Camp Half-Blood, simply watching it. It seemed that a few people were waking up now, if the pair on the beach were any indication. They were facing in my general direction, so I waved at them. When they waved back, I commanded my personal pillar of water to bring me to the other campers. It took a minute, since I had swam out pretty far, but I made it eventually. I recognized the blonde haired Jason and the chocolate curls of Piper, complete with the feather she usually had. Both were smiling in contentment, leaning on each other as they watched me with amusement.

And amused they were, when my water pillar didn't follow me onto the sand, instead dissolving, leaving me to fall twenty feet. I screeched like a pterodactyl, which stopped after I collided face first with the soft ground. I could hear Piper and Jason busting their guts laughing. I chuckled wryly.

"Nice to know my pain is funny to you guys." I said, in mock hurt. Jason waved away my sarcasm, but didn't stop laughing. In fact, he laughed even harder when Leo came out of nowhere, panting, and cried, "What's going on!? I swear I heard a Sphinx!" His hands were covered in soot, and his shirt was drenched in sweat. He must've been working in the forges all night, and was on his way to get a shower.

Even I started rolling around at the hilarity of the situation. Leo stood there, looking confused as all Hades.

"What am I missing here?" He asked. Jason held up his index finger, the universal sign for 'gimme a sec'. We took much longer than a sec, but we still calmed down. It was nice, to just laugh our lungs out. After all the hardships in our lives, we deserved it. Unfortunately, the hardships didn't stop just because we saved the world(a few times, in my case). No, the Fates were far from done with their favorite toy.

That was when Malcolm ran up to me, breathing audibly but not outright gasping. "Hey, Percy. I think you need to go talk to Annabeth. She seems pretty shaken up about… something. She wouldn't say a word to any of us." The severity of Malcolm's statement beat the humor out of the moment. I immediately hopped to my feet, brushing off sand grains from my shirt while asking Malcolm,

"Where is she right now?"

"She should be back at the cabin." Malcolm replied, finally getting his breathing under control.

"Thanks, Mal." I threw over my shoulder as I bolted off towards Cabin 11.

This event was the first snowball in an avalanche of strange happenings.

* * *

 **Okay, now begins the long road to redemption for this story. In the meantime, y'all should check out my other stories:Phantom Pains, Ocean of Sparks, and My Son Is The Future Demon King. There are a few others, but they don't have actual chapters yet. I will start working on those when I get bored of the ones I listed above, or finish them. By the way, what's up with the 99 follows? Can we get that up to 100, please? Also, review. If you guys don't tell me what you want, I can't give it to you. I don't read minds. That's that psychic shit. I don't fucks with that.**


	2. Chapter 2

I rushed over to Cabin 11, as fast as I possibly could, bowling over people left and right. My mind was racing over what could have possibly upset Annabeth. Was she having a nightmare of Tartarus before she woke up? Or did something remind her of someone who was lost? Maybe it was… Luke?

That thought made me falter a bit. No matter how much I tried, I just could not get over Annabeth's crush on Luke. Every pang of jealousy that went through me whenever she mentioned Luke was accompanied by a spike of shame. I shouldn't be angry at someone who passed, much less someone who saved the world (even if he nearly destroyed it in the first place). And yet, I still was. I hated him for hurting Annabeth, hated him for the deaths of Beckendorf, Silena, Zoe, Bianca, Lee, Castor and so many more.

I was shaken out of my thoughts by the graywood door to Cabin 11. I hesitantly knocked on it. A few seconds later, one of Annabeth's siblings opened it.

"Oh, hey Percy. Annabeth's this way." Said Laura, one of the younger Athena campers. She led me to a room separate from the brainiac's workshop/sleeping area. We stopped in front of a (surprise) gray door.

Laura pointed at it, and said, "She's in there. I would go in too, but…" I understood her silence. Whenever Annabeth was upset, she would throw the nearest thing at anyone who tried to enter the room, except me, of course. She did not like for people to see her crying. Malcolm's unexpected haircut a few weeks was proof of that. It was also the result of him being unfortunate enough for nothing to be near Annabeth except her ever-present dagger…

"Thanks for the escort, Laura." I said with a smile. For some reason, the girl's cheeks exploded with red. She stuttered out a farewell, then promptly left. Ignoring the strangeness, I mentally prepared myself for the storm of rage and tears that would be Annabeth. I took a few deep breaths, before rapping my fist against the door.

"Annabeth, I'm comin' in!" I called. I had learned my lesson about walking into Annabeth's room suddenly, when a ruler nearly took my eye out. Scary stuff, man. Slowly opening the door, so Annabeth would have a few seconds to fix her hair if she wanted, I walked in on a _very_ unexpected scene.

Annabeth, crying, being held by… Luke!?

"Uhhhhh…" I said. However, it seemed like neither of them heard me. I coughed loudly in an attempt to get their attention. No dice.

"Uh, Annabeth. You okay?" I asked, currently ignoring _dead man sitting next to her_. Yet, I was the one being ignored, by both.

"I just miss- _hic_ \- him so mu _-hic_ -ch! Why did he have to- _hic-_ side with Kronos!?" Annabeth wailed. Being extremely weirded out, I had nothing to say. Fortunately, Luke took care of my speechlessness. Unfortunately, what he said turned my world on it's head.

"Percy knew the risks of joining the Titans. Let's just be thankful he came back to his senses at the last second, and saved us all."

What. The. Fuck. When did I join the Titans!? That was Luke's thing, not mine! Deciding to put a stop to this madness, I stepped forward, reaching towards the crying Annabeth's shoulder to get her attention. My hand went straight through her.

I tried again, with the same results. And again. And again. I must have stood there for five minutes, waving my hand through my girlfriend's body, as if she was a hallucination. Or as if I was a ghost. Becoming a bit hysterical, I started yelling right in her ears.

"Annabeth! What the hell is going on! Come on, answer me! Please!" Eventually, my yelling deteriorated into wordless spasms, as I tried to wrap my head around my current situation.

"Luke, I'm gonna- _hic_ \- go to the bathroom really quick. Wait here, please?" Annabeth pleaded, which was yet another thing that struck me as odd in this strange reality. Annabeth _never_ pleaded. She usually demanded things of people. Or asked, if they were lucky(me!). But pleading was new.

Luke chuckled a bit, and said, "I'd wait here for the next thousand years if you asked me to, Wise Girl." Hey, that's my pet-name! I call copyright!

Annabeth, gave a watery smile, and left without another word.

"So, Percy. You like to listen in on people's conversations?"

Saying I was startled is like saying that someone was birthed by a woman. It's so obvious, it never needs to be stated. But stated it was. I turned to face Luke so quickly I felt something in my neck pop.

Luke chuckled at my _completely appropriate_ reaction. "Man, you can yell really loud, you know that?" he said. My jaw dropped.

I started spluttering out some form of response, but it was never fully formed, because Luke cut me off.

"Shh. No questions now. Annabeth will probably be back in a few minutes, so I need to explain this to you quickly, 'cause I have a lot of stuff to cover." My jaw snapped shut with an audible _clack_ , and I pursed my lips. Luke nodded in approval.

"Alright, so you know how you're the Fates' favorite toy?" At this I nodded. Luke continued, "Well, this time, they really fucked you over. You don't exist anymore."

At this, my jaw dropped, _again_ , and I tried to formulate some sort of complaint.

"Ah ah ah, no questions yet. They switched our places. I'm the one who retrieved Zeus's Master Bolt, which _you_ stole, retrieved the Fleece, held up the Sky, all of that jazz. _You_ are the one who almost let Kronos wipe out Western Civilization, but sacrificed yourself to destroy him. I was one of the Seven who defeated Gaea, I fell into Tartarus with Annabeth, defeated Polybotes. Even smashed his face in with Terminus' bust, just like you. And, before you ask, yes I'm still a son of Hermes." Luke paused, trying to figure out how to explain my current predicament to me. I waited with bated breath, trying to comprehend everything I've heard so far.

"Okay, so. You not existing anymore. Right. I'm not supposed to have all this knowledge of the alternate reality where you were the hero, but the Fates are allowing it because it'll probably be funnier for you to know exactly what's happening but be helpless to stop it. Anyways, they plopped your mind, _just_ your mind, into an alternate reality. That's why nobody can see you. It's like those demigod dreams I, er, you, I mean, _we_ had back on that whole quest-spree. Possibly only the gods can see you, but the gods in this reality think you're a traitorous bastard. They might not be able to harm you 'cause the Fates don't wanna lose their favorite toy, but they _will_ insult you with everything in their vocabulary. Zeus might even try to send Morpheus after ya or something, but probably not. Just in case, stay away from the gods." Luke paused to catch his breath. My head was spinning, but I just nodded when he looked at me as if seeking permission to continue. I would absorb it all now, then process it later when I was alone with my thoughts.

"Alright… uh, what now?...Oh! The Fates might occasionally transport you to some random place to see certain events, so don't panic when that happens. And also remember, nobody other than the immortals can see you. If they transport you to, say, Olympus in the middle of a council meeting, run like hell. Now then…" Luke trailed off, lost in thoughts.

It was during the son of Hermes' silence that I heard footsteps down the hall. Most likely Annabeth, because the Athena campers usually vacated the cabin when Annabeth was having a fit, just in case of those rare occasions when she would leave the room and try to prevent people from seeing her cry at the same time. Man, she was violent. And hot. _Very_ hot.

Luke seemed to also hear the footsteps, because he tensed up. He spoke in a lowered voice,

"Okay, look. I don't know why the Fates chose to let me in on this secret, but I probably won't remember this conversation, or _any_ of the information. Just be careful, and good luck getting back to your dimension. Also, Bob said for me to tell you he said hi when me and Annie were in Tartarus. I don't know how the hell he knew about this, but it probably had to do with the Fates."

The mention of Bob left me feeling horrible all over again about his sacrifice. He, a Titan meant to destroy me, ended up giving up his life for a 'friend' who abandoned him to enslavement at the hands of Hades. What a nice guy I am.

My internal mourning/self-degrading monologue was interrupted by the door opening. Annabeth was back from the bathroom. The sight of her made me smile a little, despite the guilt ripping up my insides. She had cleaned up a bit; blew her nose, wiped her previously tear-stained face, and fixed her hair. She sat back down on the bed, next to Luke, and rested her head on his broad shoulder.

"Hey, Luke. Thanks for helping me out with this. I don't know what I would've done without you." I said sincerely. Luke looked at me for a second, like he was studying me, then winked.

I thought I was starting to finally get over my hatred of him, even if he was an alternate-dimension Luke. Then Luke put a finger under Annabeth's chin, lifted her face, and rained kisses upon her lips and cheeks. Once done with his assault, he pulled her into a tight embrace, then stuck his tongue out at me.

Nope. Fuck that guy.

That was when the Fates decided to get the ball rolling on my little adventure. A sea-green light began to envelop me. Luke saw it, and waved at me. I flipped him off. He chuckled. I teleported out of the Athena Cabin with a smirk on my face.

Which was promptly wiped off when I noticed where I was teleported; five thousand feet above a big city. I screamed my lungs out.


	3. Chapter 3

I had been falling for the past five minutes. At this point, the height no longer scared me. It was just absolutely ridiculous. Was my incorporeal body the weight of a feather? Did I even _have_ weight in this form?

The glow of the city underneath me was gradually getting closer, but far too slow for my liking. That sounds weird, " _I'm not falling fast enough!"_ Oh well. I had long since figured out I was in Manhattan, considering the Empire State Building, and by extension, Olympus, was just a few hundred feet away.

"Ugh, can this go any faster!?" I complained to the wind. As if responding to my outburst, my breath was ripped away by the sudden downwards acceleration that took hold of me. I managed to maneuver so that I was face-down, watching the lights of Manhattan approaching me at an alarming pace.

"Ok, ok! Slow down!"

And again, gravity complied. I slowed to my previous dropped-feather speed.

"Um… stop?..." I stopped midair. My surprise was made known by a disgusting noise that emerged from my throat. It sounded like _squeak_ of all things. Now let me tell you, I do not normally squeak. I didn't when I faced Ares, Hyperion, Atlas, or even Kronos. Then again, that was in fighting, the one thing I excelled at. Being a dream-spirit? Not so much, even if I had a lot of demigod dreams.

"Alright then… Forward!"

I was off like a shot. Right towards the Empire State building. After only a few seconds, I was fifty feet away, showing no signs of slowing down.

"Stop! Slow down!" I cried out desperately. This time, the verbal commands did not work. I attempted to maneuver in some way by twisting and turning like a top, but only succeeded in turning upside-down. I now had a perfect view of the building I was going to crash into, even if said view was inverted. Going at this speed upside-down is slightly disorientating.

Twenty feet from collision… fifteen… ten… five… zero. I went through the building.

Not like, I impacted so hard I blew through the building. No, I went _through_ the building like a ghost. Which I guess I technically was, considering the me in this alternate reality was dead. That was so weird to think about. Just like the rest of this whole situation. I'll dwell on that later, though. Right now, I'm just thankful I was a spirit rather than a physical being.

I was going fast enough that I could barely see what was on the floor I passed through. From what I could glimpse, though- desks, computers, the occasional office appliance- it seemed like an office.

Irritatingly enough, I started to slow down _after_ I passed through the Empire State building. Maybe it was the Fates' way of showing me I could pass through things.. A really fucking scary way of advising, but it worked.

I spent the next few minutes attempting- and succeeding- at flying using mental commands. This was pretty easy, but still slightly disorientating. I flew around Manhattan for a while, before deciding to go check on my mom. Zooming through streets, buildings, cars, and the occasional person, I soon arrived at the apartment me and my mother had lived in for most of our lives. Deciding not to be _too_ rude, I phased through the front door, slowly, to make sure I wasn't disturbing anything.

Since calling out would do absolutely nothing, I simply wandered around the apartment, which was the same as I always remembered. Same ocean blue walls, dark blue curtains, worn out coffee and dining tables. Even that one little hole in the wall, from when Gabe tried to punch me one time but missed because the pig was so damn drunk. Ah, good times.

The pictures were what tipped me off that something was wrong. They were taken in the same locations, and the same actions were being performed. The only difference was the people in them. Not me and my mother, no. Luke and May Castellan. At Montauk beach, first day of school, birthday cake failure… Yup, it was all there. Which filled me with such a sense of wrongness that I could no longer bear to be in this apartment.

Everything reminded me of home (partially because it _was_ home), but also reminded me that I did not belong here, or even on this world. I fled the apartment before I could become too absorbed by my trepidation. The farther I flew from the apartment which should be my home, the greater my sense of longing became. I had done nothing to deserve such a fate, yet those hags delighted in spinning my thread of destiny with barbed wire. I urged my spirit form to travel faster, passing through the winds that should have buffeted me if I were a physical form. Perhaps I would be able to ignore my rising dread at Camp Half-Blood.

I was wrong, of course. The entire trip to Camp Half-Blood, which took about thirty minutes, I was followed by my emotional turmoil. The sights speeding past were nostalgic, I had seen them many times on my way to and from Camp. The Camp itself, while usually calming, had put me more on edge than I had ever been, save for maybe my face-off with Gaea. My hair was standing on end, my legs felt like lead, and I even had trouble flying closer to the familiar cabin area. Every fiber of my non-existence was screaming at me that something was about to go wrong. My instincts had done this before, when a fight with someone who could easily strike me down was imminent. Not on this scale, however. During those moments, my opponents and allies went into a sort of hyper-focus, while my surroundings blurred. I also seemed to develop a very weak sixth sense. This however, was far stronger. If I had to name it, I would call it absolute terror, something I had yet to feel in my short demigod life, regardless of the fearsome foes I have faced.

Before I could even think about flying as far away from Camp as possible (preferably China), a flash of silver flew right past my face, so close I could feel the wind that the object displaced. It hit the cabin several feet away from me with barely a sound, digging a few inches into the wood. I recognized the fletching of an arrow.

The first thing that tipped me off to the severe wrongness of the situation was the fact that I felt the winds. I was basically a spirit, everything should go through me! And secondly, unless someone just did _not_ like that cabin, said someone had been aiming at me. Which also should not have been possible, since people weren't supposed to be able to see me. I mechanically turned my head to the direction the arrow came from, and made eye contact with… a child?

A child of about twelve, wearing a silver parka, silver trousers, and with silver eyes. The young girl also had a head of auburn hair, with the string of a bow drawn back to her cheek in preparation to shoot another arrow. Wait a minute… bow, lots of silver, and auburn hair on a twelve year old?

"Lady Artemis!?" I cried out in shock. Said goddess tensed up at my addressing her.

"It is indeed I, _boy_. Now, would you care to explain to me exactly _why_ you are walking amongst the living, when you should, in fact, be dead?" Lady Artemis asked coldly. Her tone made me nervous. That was the voice I only heard when she was talking to her enemies. Then again, considering what the me of this dimension had done, it seemed appropriate.

"Oh… Um… Would you believe me if I said I was just taking a stroll? Ya know, just a little walk down memory lane, and-" My excuses died on my tongue as Lady Artemis readjusted the grip on her bow, drawing the string back a bit more.

"I have no time for your excuses. Answer me truthfully, or I shall drag you in chains before the Olympian Council, which, may I remind you, did not take kindly to your trying to destroy them."

"Wait, wait! There's no need for all of that! You see, the Fates, they just up and abducted me from…" My explanation stopped as I thought of what I should tell her. The truth? No, she would just think I was crazy, then make good on her promise to bring me to Olympus.

"From Elysium?" Lady Artemis asked, shaking me from my thoughts. With hesitation, I nodded. The goddess' eyebrows scrunched up a bit. She had obviously caught my slowness in responding, and was about to question me about it before I interrupted her.

"Ah, well, would ya look at the time! I should probably be getting back to, uh, Elysium before Hades notices my absence. It was nice talking to you, Lady Artemis!" I turned on my heel, and silently praying to the Fates that my spirit flight powers wouldn't fail, I shot off like a rocket. I heard the indignant shout Lady Artemis gave, before I felt a few arrows whiz by me. I started twisting, turning, and just flying erratically, in the hopes that I wouldn't end up with an arrow in my ass. It seemed that I succeeded, because I managed to get a few miles away from the Camp without injury.

My breathing finally evened out once I could see the skyline of Manhattan again. That whole incident had been quite the scare, and quite the eye-opener. Luke had theorised that gods and other similar deities could see me, but I had thought they were just that; theories. I didn't expect them to be completely correct. And, I also had to worry about Lady Artemis' next actions. Would she bring it up at the Olympian Council, go talk to Hades, or search for me? Either path spelled trouble for me as long as I remained in this alternate reality.

I, unfortunately, had no clue how to leave. Unless…

"FATES!" I shouted into the night sky, as loud as I could. After a few years of screaming bloody murder and battle cries, it was pretty damned loud. As if they were they simply waiting for me to call out, the three old ladies of Destiny appeared in a bright flash of light.

"Perseus Jackson," The ladies rasped as one, "How nice of you to contact us. You never call anymore. We were beginning to think you didn't care about us." Great. They had a sense of humor. A slightly shitty one, too.

"We heard that, Son of Poseidon." The ladies said. Apparently, they could read minds. Not the most surprising thing ever.

"Ignoring that , I have a question. How the Hades do I get out of here!?" I nearly yelled at the Moirai. Raising their eyebrows at me, simultaneously I might add, they responded,

"Well, since you want to yell at us, we shall not tell you. Good luck, Sea Spawn." With that utterance, the hags disappeared. No bright flash or special effect- simply gone. It was as if reality, or alternate reality, glitched. I stood- _floated_ \- in place for a few moments.

"FUCK!"

* * *

 **Hey, people. So, I'm back. No real reason for the delay, I was just being lazy af. Hopefully less of that in the future, but only time will tell. Review with ideas, cuz I'm just pulling things out of my ass right now. Also, tell me what you think of the new idea as opposed to what the story used to be. Also also, check out my other stories,** **Ocean of Sparks** **,** **Phantom Pains** **, and** **My Son is the Future Demon King** **. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Artemis Third Person POV**

It has been two years since Perseus Jackson fell into a coma of unidentified origins. The demigod camps were in disarray, very worried that something similar could happen to another amongst their ranks, as well as depressed by the "loss" of one loved by most,

Despite Apollo's best attempts, Perseus remained asleep. At the very least, the boy did not seem to be in pain. He simply laid there, slowly deteriorating.

Poseidon has grown more anxious with each passing month. He now must concentrate constantly to prevent a tsunami of unseen proportions from washing away a good portion of human society.

Zeus, for all the dislike he seemed to hold for the boy, is rather worried. Whenever Perseus comes up in conversation, the King of the Gods becomes rather sober.

Ares mourns the loss of a talented sparring partner. Unbeknownst to most, the two frequently met up to polish their skills against each other.

Aphrodite mourns as well, but it is for the loss of what she deemed the most perfect relationship since Helen and Paris.

Athena is indifferent, more concerned with her child than the sea-spawn. She hated to see her daughter in such pain, and was rather relieved when Annabeth managed to cope- albeit in an unexpected way.

Hermes was slightly saddened, but got over it rather quickly. As he put it, "Hey! The kid's still alive, right? Better asleep than dead." Combined with the fact that his delivery service was hectic as usual, Hermes didn't have much time to worry.

Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hera, Demeter and Hades were indifferent.

Hestia seemed disheartened, but continued to stoke the Hearth, holding onto hope. Hope that the son of Poseidon would wake eventually.

Artemis was slightly annoyed by how somber the rest of the Olympians seemed. After all, Perseus Jackson was still alive. However, one would think they were at a funeral, considering the subdued air of Olympus.

Artemis did not particularly care for the boy. She respected him, sure; the boy had saved the world many times. However, the two did not interact much beyond his rescue on Mount Othrys.

That was subject to change, however, when two years worth of memories forced their way inside her head.

* * *

 **Percy Third Person POV**

Perseus Jackson's eyes opened for the first time in years. As to be expected, they immediately shut again, due to how bright the inside of Apollo's palace was, with all the gold and LED lights. One would think the god would be more compassionate to his patients; alas, that person would be wrong.

Percy opened his eyes again, slowly this time, revealing sea green orbs which had been covered in darkness for quite some time.

Shifting himself into a more comfortable position- with considerable effort- Percy observed his hands, which felt weaker than they had even after his most draining battles.

The skin had become paler than a vampire's, and thinner than paper. Whenever Percy shifted his hands, they produced a slight crackling noise, similar to a sheet of plastic. His bones protruded sharply, very nearly puncturing the skin. The blood vessels were extremely defined, to the point where the red and blue would catch most attention should anyone look at him.

Percy suspected the rest of his body had handled the passage of time in a similar body. He was not very fond of the fact that he most likely looked like a white Spartus.

Apollo chose that moment to walk in. The god promptly dropped his clipboard, and stood still as a statue, gaping at Percy. The demigod stared back, unsure of what to do.

"Holy shit!" Apollo rushed over to his bedside, mouth running a mile a minute. "Do you know who I am? What's your name? What's the last thing you remember? How many fingers am I holding up? How do you feel? What-"

Percy zoned out, hoping for a rescue. Unfortunately, he was not that lucky, and had to take matters into his own hands.

Apollo was silenced when Percy opened his mouth. "When can I leave?"

The Sun god gaped. "Are you kidding? You just woke up from a two year coma! You won't be out of here for weaks!"

"Listen, just pump me full of ambrosia and nectar. Anything not healed by that can probably be taken care of by working out."

"...That is most definitely not how it works. This is why I'm the doctor, and as the doctor, I say you have to stay in that bed. Now, get up. I'm gonna run some tests."

Percy looked fairly amused, which was hard to pull off when your face was basically a skull. When the teen did not move, Apollo poked him. "What are you doing? I said get up."

"You told me to stay in the bed before that, though."

Apollo did not seem entertained. The god crossed his arms over his chest, and fixed a flat stare on the demigod. "Fine, if you're gonna be like that, you can stay there for another couple months."

Percy groaned in mostly faked irritation, before making a show of flipping the blankets off him, and sitting up so his legs were dangling over the edge of the bed.

Apollo nodded, satisfied. "Better. Now, first we're gonna start with some basic stuff, like weight and height, before we get into the uncomfortable stuff."

 **-One Examination Later-**

Percy was seated back on the bed, while Apollo went over some prescriptions and recommendations.

"Alright, first off, get lots of rest. Duh. Second, a good amount of nectar and ambrosia, as well as fatty foods to get your weight back. You can leave this place in… I'd give it two weeks. However, just because you're out of the hospital doesn't mean you can train like you did before- that'll probably send you right back here when your bones snap like twigs under the weight of a sword. So, I'll be writing you a doctor's note to excuse you from P.E- don't give me that look! This is what's best for you! Also, considering the bones thing, lots of milk."

Apollo continued spouting things that Percy couldn't possibly remember, clapped the demigod on the shoulder, then promptly left to take care of "godly business". Probably code for going to get laid.

Percy let out a sigh, then shifted his body so his back was resting against the pillow.

"Man, I can't wait to get out of here…"

* * *

 **-One Month Later-**

Percy was finally leaving the hospital, and he could not be more happy. He felt alright; still weak, but much better than last week, when he could barely walk without assistance. Muscle atrophy was no joke.

Percy could have left in half the time, but he stayed behind so Apollo could help him through some very effective physical therapy. As of now, Percy was about as fit as his twelve-year-old self, but he would work on it.

For some reason, Apollo had not told any of the Olympians of his awakening. According to the god, "I just got a bad feeling whenever I tried to bring it up."

As a result, Percy wasn't sure what to do. He _could_ go straight to camp, or find his dad, or maybe even visit his mom and Paul.

On the other hand, he had picked up quite a few tricks in that alternate dimension, that he wanted to test to see if they had carried over.

Concentrating on a power separate from his demigod abilities, Percy slashed a hand through the air.

A rip in the fabric of space appeared, causing a grin to appear on the Son of Poseidon's face.

"Yup. Still got it."

He stepped through the portal, right into the depths of Tartarus.

* * *

 **Bleh. This quick chapter was formulated by me copping out on explaining everything that happened in that alternate dimension right now. It just seemed kinda boring. I'll have a few flashbacks, and some explanations of the things he picked up, so I guess it balances out. Anyone watch anime? Good, because a portion of the things he got are from one or another.**


	5. Chapter 5

Percy breathed in the sulfuric air of the abyss, reveling in the way it burned his lungs. His bare toes wriggled around in the glass shards that littered the ground, burrowing deeper and deeper with every move. He hadn't felt pain in a while, coddled as he was in Apollo's divine infirmary, and by his spectral existence in the other world. He didn't enjoy the pain, so much as the fact that the sensation cemented the reality of his situation. He was _actually_ back from the parallel dimension- talk about a pain in the ass! Two years of that bullshit, and then coming back to a fucked up body _sucks_.

Even more so when the counterparts of the people he built relationships with weren't the same. Sure, he could go chill with this world's Hermes at a bar and knock back a couple beers, but it just wouldn't be the same.

Enough complaining, though. Percy had come here to test his newfound abilities, not whine like a bitch.

First things first, the portal. That worked well enough, or Percy wouldn't be where he currently was. Duh.

Second, the waterbending he got from his father. Oh look, there's the River Styx. How convenient. It took a few minutes for Percy to jog over there. Either distance in Tartarus was distorted to high hell, or his body was just that slow. Probably both- but that was the point of coming to Greek hell; to get back into shape by fighting copious amounts of monsters. That would definitely put his extreme regeneration to the test.

The demigod finally arrived at the black waters, out of breath and very annoyed at his physical weakness. He concentrated for a moment, before forcing his willpower into the river. A few gallons of water separated from the powerful stream and floated into the air. There, the Son of Poseidon began manipulating the currently shapeless blob. First, a liquid copy of Anaklusmos, which currently rested in his jeans' pocket. Second, and more complex, a miniature version of the Minotaur. Unfortunately, Percy's control likely wasn't as good as his father's, which explained why old Beef Head was looking a bit chunky. And finally, just for fun, a simple ball, that was then compressed to the size of a needlepoint.

Percy let go of the water, and watched as it exploded from its squashed state, reminding the young man that the sea did not like to be restrained. It would explain why he was so pissed off during physical therapy.

That was about the extent of things that he could check without a live opponent. Then again, this was Tartarus. Percy could just walk about a bit; surely _something_ would be drawn to the beacon of a powerful demigod in the home of monsters.

It was a while before the half-blood saw another living being. He didn't have a proper estimate of the time, since Tartarus was wonky like that, but he knew it was a while. Coincidentally enough, it was the Minotaur, who was not as fat as Percy's water sculpture.

The beast had been running full throttle in the direction of the familiar scent of the one who had bested it twice, becoming angrier the closer it got. The man heard the monster from far away, considering the Minotaur was not making an effort to hide- in fact, it was bellowing at the top of its cow lungs. Or maybe they were human lungs, considering the upper half of the creature was where the organ would be.

Regardless of man-cow anatomy, the monster was soon upon Percy, looking exactly as it had back during the Battle of Manhattan all those years; carrying around that deadly omega axe, wearing Fruit of the Loom undies, and rippling with hairy muscles. Even at a distance of ten feet, Percy could smell the scent of rancid meat emanating from the beast. Despite how disgusted he was, the man couldn't help but smile at the nostalgia.

The Minotaur had been the second monster he fought, but the first that had actually put up a fight. Ms. Dodds didn't count, since she basically threw herself on his sword, the dumb bitch.

It was only fitting that the Minotaur be the first monster he fight when he returned to the demigod world.

With a smooth motion ingrained into his essence from years of battle, the Son of Poseidon whipped Anaklusmos out of his pocket, and flicked the cap off with his thumb. The pen morphed into the familiar weight of the beautiful bronze sword which had saved his life so many times. Even in his weakened state, Percy could hold Anaklusmos just fine- it what just a matter of how long he could swing it around for. Luckily, the blade was sharp enough that two or three slashes should be enough to turn the Minotaur back into gold dust, which Percy fully intended to do.

"What's up, beef brain? So anxious to get killed again that you ran all the way to find lil' ol' me?" Percy taunted the monster.

The Minotaur was breathing heavily, either from the long run to find the demigod, or from anger at the insult. Personally, Percy thought the beast was too stupid to register his words as offensive. Regardless, the man-cow hybrid roared and charged at him, head parallel to the ground to level its razor sharp horns with its opponent.

Percy laughed mockingly as he spun out of the way. "Come on, you stupid bull- you can't _seriously_ expect to get me with _that_! It obviously hasn't worked before!"

The Minotaur, incensed by its miss, charged once more, and once more, Percy dodged easily.

"Man, its like you got slower over the years…." The man commented, while the monster lined up for yet another charge, Percy sighed. "Are you a one trick pony or something?"

The Minotaur bellowed in rage, before pulling out the omega axe which had previously stayed untouched during the confrontation.

"There you go! Did you forget that huge thing was on your back, or what? Man, there's a limit to how _dumb_ something can be."

The monster swung at him, prompting the demigod to raise his significantly smaller sword in a block.

"Okay, probably not a good idea! You may be stupid as all Hades, but _damn_ you are strong!" The demigod grunted, struggling under the immense strength of his foe.

The Minotaur grunted in return, before pulling back and swinging again. This time, Percy made the smart decision and angled his blade, so it would slide off in a parry. He was definitely not trying to do a full block again, not until he had his old strength back.

The two continued this little dance for a few moments, during which the monster continued to grow more furious. Eventually, it got so fed up it tossed the axe at Percy and charged afterwards.

Not expecting the move, Percy parried the axe, making it clatter on the ground beside him harmlessly, but then was stuck by the meaty shoulder of the Minotaur. He flew a good fifteen feet and landed on his face, such was the force behind the blow.

The Minotaur roared victoriously, believing that it had successfully taken down the most powerful demigod of the century with such a simply move. Of course, nothing else could be expected from this fool.

Dazed, Percy rolled onto his back, and struggled to sit upright. The Minotaur barely managed to see his movements, considering how bad its eyesight was, but it still saw. Even so, the monster continued to lumber at a slow pace, as if savoring its triumph. It thought that Percy was down for the count, a fatal mistake.

In the minute it took for the man-cow to walk over to the demigod, he had already recovered, and was simply laying there to be bait, while also pondering how to go about this.

' _I can't use_ that _, since beef-for-brains is practically blind and won't see it… I'm not really in shape for most of that other stuff- the effort alone would probably kill me, and if not, then the backfire definitely will. Damn my lack of control! Looks like I'm doing this the old-fashioned hack-and-slash way!'_

When the Minotaur finally reached the downed half-blood, it raised both its muscular arms to prepare for a hammer strike. Percy rolled his eyes at how slow the monster was, then rolled out of the way as the fists dropped. They struck the ground with a heavy _thud_ , which would have definitely broken bones if it hit. Luckily, it didn't, so Percy was in the perfect position to whip Anaklusmos around and decapitate the stupid beast. It was too dumb to even register surprise, and so the bull head disintegrated into golden dust with that same sneer/smirk combo on its face. The body soon followed, leaving behind naught but said dust and the Minotaur's entire skull.

Startled, Percy picked up the monster's cranium, and began to turn it in his hands thoughtfully.

"This is definitely getting mounted on a wall."

With that, Percy opened a small portal, tossed the Minotaur skull through to gods-know-where, then continued on his journey to regain his strength.

* * *

 **A very short chapter, since I wanted to get one out, as well as keep y'all in suspense. Is it working? On another note, I've decided to stop proofreading my stuff. It takes too much damned time, and its annoying. Besides, even if I don't go through it twice, my grammar is still better than the majority of other stories on this site, which a) sucks, and b) is really unfortunate. Horrid grammar is one of the main reasons why I can't read some stories, even if they have a cool plotline. For example, this one Infinite Stratos fic called "Curse of Hatred", or something like that. Basically, women wiped out the majority of men using the IS, and Ichika developed the Sharingan in order to survive. Cool plot, amirite? Unfortunately, the author had no respect for the 'standard conventions of written english' -as they like to say on my English tests- and I couldn't read it. Twas unfortunate, but such is life; full of tragedy and disappointment. Enough of my ramblings though. Tell me if you managed to guess one of Percy's other powers based on that little hint I gave.**


	6. Chapter 6

A month on Gaia did _not_ equal a month in Tartarus. Percy could attest to this, if anyone ever bothered to ask. It was more like… something else. The demigod had no clue, but he could at the very least _feel_ the difference. He remembered the sensation of differing time speeds from when Kronos had used his powers on him way back when, and the time flow in Tartarus was definitely faster than in the mortal world.

It was fast enough that Percy had had to trim his nails at least ten times- which he only did when they grew to about a half inch- by the time he finally returned to Gaia, only to find that about thirty days had passed. It was unsettling, but at the same time, Percy did not really care. It wasn't like he would have lived long enough for those possible months, maybe year, to matter. Such was the demigod struggle.

Of course, monsters weren't really an issue for the son of Poseidon anymore, not after fighting them constantly during his tenure in hell. The longest resting period he had gotten was probably less than an hour, so the man definitely was in a good enough shape to take on anything that came his way. Lucky, considering most monsters were too stupid to understand when they were outmatched,

He had even gained enough strength to put the tricks he had gained in that alternate dimension to good use, which led to much entertainment in finding inventive ways to eviscerate a monster.

All in all, Percy felt strong enough to finally return to Gaia, the mortal world, and restart his life. Things could not go back to the way they were- they never could- but at least this way Percy would be able to do as he pleased, without worrying too much about the consequences.

For instance; infiltrating Mount Olympus during the Winter Solstice.

* * *

"I proclaim this assembly in session!" Zeus boomed, slamming his Master Bolt down on the granite floor. "Who shall speak first!?"

"Brother," Poseidon chided, "There is no need to shout. We are all _right_ here." The Sea God gestured to the distance between the thrones, which was actually not that much to giant beings such as the Olympians.

Zeus coughed awkwardly, then cleared his throat. "Apologies. So, who has any issues to bring up, _that we have not covered before?_ " That last bit was directed at Dionysus, who had raised his hand to beg for a lightening of punishment in Camp Half-Blood, like always.

The Wine God dropped his hand, fixing his father with a stink eye, then opened up his wine magazine, having to resort to fantasizing about tasting alcohol.

Artemis was the first to raise her hand. "Recruitment of new Hunters has become difficult, especially in Camp Half-Blood, since the children of _someone_ keep slandering the name of my ladies."

Zeus sighed in mild irritation. "I said problems we have _not_ covered, Daughter."

"And we have _not_ covered this issue, since nothing was done, _Father_ ," the goddess replied, raising her chin in defiance.

The king sighed again. "Aphrodite, please tell your children to stop slandering the Hunters," he said monotonously.

Aphrodite nodded, then childishly stuck her tongue out at Artemis, whose fingers were twitching with the desire to turn the Love Goddess in a pincushion. However, she was able to keep herself in check, because such behavior was unfitting of an immortal of her standing.

Hera spoke up next. "Thalia Grace continues to disrespect me," she said, turning to stare at her husband, to see his reaction.

"We have already covered that topic, my dear."

"How? The girl is still alive."

"We are _not_ killing my daughter!" Zeus thundered, causing Hera to lean away, lest her godly eardrums be blown out. The Queen remained quiet, though she petulantly refused to look at her husband for the remainder of the solstice assembly.

Zeus sighed, then glanced at the other Olympians to see if they had any problems to address. Surprisingly, it was his oldest brother who had his hand raised.

"Hades? What is wrong?" The god lightning was fairly startled to be asking that of the normally independent god of the dead.

"Nothing pertaining to me, specifically. No, I believe, this is a matter which affects all currently present."

The other Olympians tensed up. Hades was the one who ruled Erebus, the Underworld, and therefore monitored the main entrances to Tartarus. As such, he would know if any of their deadliest enemies of old were stirring, or worse, trying to escape.

"And… What _is_ this matter which concerns us all?" Zeus asked after a moment.

Hades was enjoying the anticipation of his fellow gods, which as a bonus, served to irritate his youngest brother, something the death god would never pass up on. However, the moment quickly passed, and Hades grew serious.

"There is a spy in our midst."

The effect was instantaneous. Every Olympian summoned their symbol of power to themselves, Athena even going so far as to shroud herself in her battle armor. Within moments, the gods were accusing each other of treachery, some with silent, piercing gazes, and others with loud words. One such example was Zeus.

"Ares, have you been bewitched again!?" he boomed.

"No!" the war god roared back, "That was a one time thing! Just let it _go_ , old man!"

Hades was quite content to sit back and let the antics unfold. He summoned one of his novels from his palace- a god had to stay entertained _somehow_ , besides fucking anything that moved- and cracked it open. He managed to finish two pages before he noticed that the throne room had gone silent.

"You don't look particularly worried, _Hades_." Zeus said his brother's name accusingly.

"Of course I'm not; I know this spy," the god of shadows replied.

Zeus pointed his Master Bolt at Hades, who remained calm. "Are you saying that this spy is _yours!_?"

"No, I would never do such a thing," Hades responded, waving away the accusation as if it were a particularly irritating gnat. "If anything, this spy is more Poseidon's than mine."

" _What!?_ " the king shouted, turning on the Sea God, who raised his trident in defense.

"Hades, speak sense! You know I have nothing to do with this!" Poseidon cried, going cross-eyed from trying to keep an eye on the Master Bolt, which was dangerously close to his face.

"Oh, I know. This just too funny."

Zeus' temper finally reached its breaking point. He slammed the Master Bolt into the ground- eliciting a sigh of relief when the weapon was finally pointed away from him- and sending a bolt of lighting crashing down into the center of the throne room.

"Stop playing games, Hades!" Zeus roared.

Hades sighed. "You are just _so_ not fun, little brother. I'm not worried because this spy is someone who is not dangerous to us."

Zeus was now too angry to speak, instead simply pointing his symbol of power at Hades, waving the weapon around menacingly. Hades did not particularly feel like getting zapped, so he relented.

" _Fine_ ," Hades grumbled. He leaned over the side of his throne, and stretched his arm into the shadows pooling on the floor. The rest of the Olympians watched as Hades comically fished around in the darkness, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration, before he finally snagged what he was looking for. With a muttered cry of triumph, Hades drew his arm out of the shadows, holding… A person?

The other gods _thought_ it was a person. They wore mortal clothes- black jeans, black shirt, and an open purple hoodie (the hood of which the spy was currently dangling by), all tattered- and had the shape of a human- two arms and two legs, one head, covered by shoulder-length raven hair, all of which seemed proportional. The only thing which confused the Olympians was the spy's face. It must have been covered by a mask, they assumed, since no monster they knew of had a face like that.

The supposed mask was bone white, covering the spy's face perfectly enough that no defining features showed through. There were two distinct crimson lines running down the height of the mask, only being interrupted by the eye holes and the mouth, which was not smooth like the rest of the mask. Instead, it was series of human-shaped teeth, vertically longer than normal mortals, which also stretched across the width of the mask. It was an odd sight.

The supposed spy was not struggling, as if he had resigned himself to death at the hands of the all-powerful gods.

Zeus pointed his Master Bolt at the spy. "Speak! Who sent you!?"

"Would you mind _not_ pointing that thing at me?" Hades asked.

"Then put the spy down, you fool!" Zeus retorted.

With a roll of his eyes, Hades tossed the spy towards the center of the throne room. The spy reoriented himself in the air, landing on his feet. Then, he flicked up his purple hood, dusting it off.

"I will have you know, my hands are not dirty," Hades told him, slightly irritated by the gesture.

The spy turned around, and gave Hades what the god knew to be an apathetic look, enhanced by his eyes, which filled the sockets of the mask with a sickly yellow glow. He dusted his hood off again mockingly, and turned to face Zeus. Hades frowned slightly, but refrained from interrupting Zeus' interrogation. If he was right about the spy's identity, then this would provide some entertainment.

"Who are you working for!?" Zeus asked again, jabbing the Master Bolt at the spy for good measure.

Finally, the spy spoke. It was in a raspy tone, which also had a slight, growling echo.

"Nobody."

The king's eyes narrowed. "Lies! Why _else_ would you be here!?"

The spy pondered the question for a moment, before shrugging. "I was bored."

A vein bulged on Zeus' neck, threatening to burst. Finally, he wised up, and realized he was _not_ the best person to be doing an interrogation. "Apollo! Is he lying!?"

The Sun God had his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Oddly enough, he's not. Are you actually here because you were _bored_ , Mr. Spy?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… Well I'll be damned- he really _is_ telling the truth. So, what are ya gonna do with the information you've gathered?" Apollo asked casually.

"What information?"

"You know, about the stuff you've heard while you were in here?"

"I heard no information- only petty whining."

Apollo snorted, and had to look away for a moment while trying to contain his humor. Hermes had no such reservations, and burst out laughing, falling back into his throne heavily. Even Hades chuckled, disturbing those who could hear him.

"Alright," Apollo continued, after straightening his face, "Were you even spying in the first place?"

"No, I was merely looking for entertainment."

"And- heh- did you find it?"

The masked spy nodded.

Apollo was feeling a bit cheeky now. "So what do you think?" he asked.

The spy crossed his arms, turning his gaze to the floor, thinking for a moment. Finally, he picked his head up, and looked straight into Apollo's eyes, sky blue meeting sickly yellow.

"Better than reality TV."

* * *

 **:p got a bit of random motivation to work on this story, so this is the result. Short, but sweet. The next chapter may be longer, if I ever feel like writing it, but that last sentence felt like a pretty damned good stopping point. K bai :D**


	7. Chapter 7

Apollo lost the battle to keep his amusement quite. He _also_ lost the battle to remain standing, falling to his knees and grasping at his stomach, laughing loudly the whole time. After a few moments, the god's laughing became inaudible. He started clapping, looking for all the world like a seal.

Hermes, who had just finished his last laughing fit, relapsed. The swift god began laughing harder when he saw the state his best friend was in, and soon began to do the same seal impression.

With those two silently shrieking like dumbasses, Hades' laughter was the only one left audible, inducing shivers in the other gods. It wasn't that Hades laugh was horrifying, exactly- it was actually quite appealing- but the rarity of the sound caused the Olympians to pause.

Normally, if Hades found something funny, then it would not be good for others. Applying that logic to this situation, the gods became a bit weary of the spy, still standing in the middle of the throne room.

"Can I go now?"

Zeus dragged a hand down his face. " _No_ , you cannot simply _go_. This has been a major breach in security, and we must keep an eye on you to ensure you don't decide to turn against us."

"Well, if you're trying to keep me contained, that won't end well. I like my freedom. So… Good luck with that one." With that, the spy walked back over to Hades' throne, and stood in the shadows he had previously been yanked out of. A long moment passed, and then another, before the spy looked up at Hades.

"You're a real bitch, you know that?" A few of the gods were startled at the blatant disrespect, and expected Hades to blast the arrogant spy to ashes. They were, therefore surprised, when the spy continued to live.

Rather than verbally respond, a tendril of shadow floated up from the ground, wrapped itself around the spy, then tossed him back toward the center of the throne room, where he once again landed perfectly.

"Alright, so I suppose you _can_ keep me contained. What are you going to do with that information, oh _great king_?"

Zeus' right eye twitched, but he ignored the not-so-subtle barb. "Obviously, I'm going to keep you contained!"

"Okay, but why though? I didn't do anything wrong."

"You were intruding in the throne room of Olympus! That is plenty wrong- enough that you are lucky I do not vaporize you on the spot!"

"You could do that. _Or_ , we could just ignore this whole mess and go back to our lives."

"Absolutely not! You are a threat to the security of Olympus!"

The spy was silent for a moment, but Zeus could the judgement in those yellow eyes.

"Didn't you _just_ say that you could easily kill me? Not much of a threat if you can just step on me and be done with it."

Ares spoke up. "I like the punk's idea. Matter of fact, let's just do it." The War God got up from his throne and walked over to the spy quickly. When he was position just right, Ares lifted his left foot, and brought it down on the spy.

Massive combat boot made contact with granite, and that was the end of that. At least, the Olympians thought so, until Ares lifted his muscular leg, revealing no crushed corpse.

"The heck?" the god muttered to himself, looking around the throne room. He caught sight of the spy in the shadow of Hades' throne. Irritated, Ares lashed out.

"Hey, Uncle H, how come the punk is so attached to you? You sure you don't have something to do with this?"

Athena put in her own two cents. "Yes, it is quite strange that he is not very afraid to be near you. I would have thought that your reputation for needless cruelty and association with death would scare away spies. In fact, it seems he has your ability to Shadow Travel. Would you care to explain, dear Uncle?

"You are mistaken, Athena. That was not Shadow Travel, but Shadow _Walking_. There is a distinct difference."

The throne room fell into silence, Athena staring at Hades intently. "Are you not going to elaborate?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't know the difference."

Athena facepalmed, then turned to the spy, who was now casually leaning against the death god's throne. "Do _you_ want to explain the difference?"

"Not particularly."

The Wisdom Goddess' gaze narrowed dangerously, and was then turned back on Hades. "Are you _sure_ he is not your son?"

"Positive. Nico is doing his duties as the Ghost King in the Underworld, and the rest of my children were killed, courtesy of you all."

Athena bristled, her temper flaring. "Are you accusing _me_ -!?"

"Oh my _gods. Shut up!_ " the spy interrupted, actually making her do so, though more out of shock than anything else. In an instant, her ire was directed on the mortal.

"You _dare!?_ "

"Yes, I dare. Now be quiet, your king was speaking."

Zeus was confused a moment, before the king remembered that he _had_ been cut off by Ares, which then devolved into this mess. "Uh, yes, I was. Athena, stand down. You spy, will be… Sent to Camp Half-Blood, where Dionysus will keep an eye on you."

The throne room fell silent in shock.

"You mean _that_ guy?" the spy asked, pointing to the passed out Wine God, who was drooling onto his shoulder, magazine on the floor.

Zeus rolled his jaw in annoyance. "Yes, in exchange for a _reduced sentence_ on my son's part."'

Dionysus jumped up, startling the two gods nearest to him, Hephaestus and Apollo.

"What was that!?" he cried desperately.

The Thunder God shook his head at his son's disgraceful behavior. "I _said_ , your tenure at Camp Half-Blood will be reduced if you keep an eye on the spy."

"Oh?" Dionysus sat up, greatly intrigued. "And what does that entail?"

"Keeping him within camp at all times, preventing outside contact, and of course, keeping our children safe."

Dionysus eyed the spy, then shook his head as well. "Nah. One of those brats is bound to piss him off, and I don't feel like being responsible for their death."

Zeus leaned back in his throne, astounded. Dionysus, who complained _constantly_ about his restrictions, was turning down a chance to get out of the camp earlier? He was _already_ responsible for any of the children's deaths!

The king was about to ask his son why, but said son had already fallen asleep once more. What a worthless excuse for an Olympian- not that Zeus would ever say that out loud.

"Well… That was… _Helpful_ ," he muttered. The Lightning God's mind was racing, trying to think of what to do with the spy. Maybe Hades could… No, the Underworld was far too massive, and Zeus did not trust his brother, either of them.

Athena absolutely would not, Ares would try to fight him all the time, Hephaestus might accidentally toss the spy into his forge and make him into a weapon-!

"I'll do it."

Zeus' head snapped up from his internal panic, and he looked at the speaker as if they were his savior. Until he realized who it was.

"Um… Artemis? Are you… Sure?"

"Of course. My girls need to use _something_ for live target practice."

Zeus shuddered. He remembered the time he had done much the same for Artemis herself, under the guise of some father-daughter bonding time… Never again. The god shuddered.

"Well, if that is your wish…"

"Do I not get a say in this?" the spy asked.

Zeus felt himself pitying the mortal, before he steeled himself.

"No, you do not. If Artemis wishes to use you as a target, then you will be a target. So long as she does not kill you. Understand, Artemis? He is to remain alive and… sensible. You are otherwise free to do as you choose..." Zeus trailed off, imagining the torturous things his sadistic daughter might do, and shuddered once more.

"Alright, I believe that is enough… Discussion, for one day. Artemis, take care of the spy- and remember, keep him _alive_. The rest of you, we shall continue this tomorrow. Council adjourned!"

The other gods flashed out, to do whatever they normally did, whether it be tending to their domains or bedding mortals. Only Artemis, Poseidon, and Dionysus remained, and the last one was asleep.

"Artemis, may I speak to the spy?" Poseidon requested. The silver goddess nodded, then noticed the look her uncle was giving her.

"Oh, you meant in private. I suppose so, just bring him to me at my camp when you are done." With that, she flashed out as well. Poseidon would be able to find her by sensing her divine essence, so he wasn't worried about the lack of information given to him.

"So. How have you been, _Perseus_?

* * *

 **K, so another short one. That's just because I tried to post chapter 6, but couldn't because either my laptop is retarded, or the Fanfiction site is down, so I just immediately went to work on this when 6 was done. Plus, these ending points just** _ **feel**_ **right, despite the fact that it cuts the chapter short. But I think it's best if I do short pieces, because otherwise I'll get moody and never finish super long ones. 6K words is my limit, and only if I'm** _ **really**_ **into it.**

 **Obviously, the spy is Percy. The mask is Ichigo's hollow mask, the one that first shows itself in the Hueco Mundo arc. The mask and the Shadow Walking ability are linked, which I think makes sense, because the Hollow Getsuga is black, and shadows are black. Plus, Hueco Mundo is the land of eternal night, so...It's kind of a stretch, but idgaf. There's gonna be other anime abilities making appearances, so be ready. Nothing wild as fuck, and no, Percy will no be merking gods indiscriminately. He is skilled enough to cut down an immortal (god/titan, no primordials or whatnot) in 1v1 combat, if they don't use their divine powers to cheat- which they cant because ancient laws- but don't expect any roflstomping bullshit.**

 **K bai :D**


	8. Chapter 8

"So. How have you been, _Perseus_?"

* * *

"Better than you may think," was the spy's simple reply. He took off his bone-white mask, crushing it. The particles seemed to vanish, but Poseidon paid no attention to that. He was more focused on his son's eyes, which were so very _wrong_. The sclera were pitch black, and his pupils were the same sickly yellow that the god had seen through the mask. However, after a moment, the black in Percy's eyes bled out, leaving the familiar sea-green behind.

"What do ya wanna talk about?" Percy asked, startling Poseidon out of his observations.

"What do I want to _talk about!?_ You have been in a coma for over two years, and suddenly you're able to Shadow Travel-!"

"Shadow _Walk_."

"Fine, Shadow _Walk_ , and you were spying on the Solstice Assembly! What is the meaning of this, my son!?"

"Dad, relax. Seriously, do you want high blood pressure like Zeus?"

"I think it's a bit too late for that. Now, explain."

Percy sighed, a bit annoyed at the demanding nature of his father. "Alright, so it goes like this; yes, I was in a coma for like two years. I woke up, Apollo put me through some physical therapy- 'cause my body was _fucked up_ after lying down for that long- and then I went on a little vacation. I just got back, and I was bored, so I came here, and you know what happens from there."

Poseidon was silent for a moment, face screwed up in confusion. Finally, the Sea God exploded. "That explains _nothing!_ Where did you go during that month!? _Why the Hades were you in a coma!?_ "

Percy waved a hand dismissively. "Nunya."

Poseidon was so stunned by the casual way his son was reacting to this, and quieted down. "Nunya? Where is that?"

"It ain't a place."

"So… What does it mean, then?" Poseidon asked, very much so perplexed.

"It means _nunya_ damn business. Seriously, if I wanted to tell you, I would've. So, are we done here?"

The god glared at his son, not very pleased with the dismissal. He was an Olympian, dammit!

"Fine, we are done. _For now_. You _will_ be explaining this to me one day," Poseidon threatened.

"Sure," Percy muttered, waving his hand once more.

The god of sea sighed heavily, and reached out for Percy's shoulder, to teleport him to Artemis' camp.

"Wait," the demigod interrupted, "How did you know it was me in the first place?"

Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "You _just_ noticed?"

"I was thinking about other stuff!" Percy whined.

His father chuckled, but refrained from asking. He knew the answers would frustrate him. "When Hades said that the spy had more to do with me, I reached out with my divine sense, and recognized your connection to me. And, what with you being my only child in decades… It was easy to figure out."

"So… I guess Hades knows about me, too, since he's the one that told you. Ugh, I _know_ that emo is gonna try to blackmail with my identity."

Poseidon laughed loudly at how his son referred to his brother. "Aye, an emo he is. Now, I believe you need to be at Artemis' camp. Ready?"

Much to the god's surprise, black flames sprung from his offspring's hand. Even more shocking was when Percy brought the flaming hand up to his face, and covered it in the fire. When the son of the Sea God lowered his hand, the bone-white mask he had been wearing earlier was once more in place.

"Wha…?" Poseidon whispered.

Percy raised his left index finger over where his mouth would have been, had the mask not been hiding it. "This is one of those things I'll explain when we have that little sit-down you mentioned earlier. Anyways, I'm ready."

The father nodded mutely, too startled to say anything. He grabbed his son's shoulder, and flashed them to Artemis' camp in California. Once there, Poseidon nodded to the masked demigod, and teleported to his palace in Atlantis. He had much thinking to do.

Meanwhile, Percy had over a dozen bows pointed at him. He casually raised his hands in surrender.

"I come in peace, mortals," he told the Huntresses. It didn't seem to work- in fact, his attempt at lightening the mood seemed to backfire, and the ladies tensed up more.

"Alright, that didn't work… Artemis is expecting me, so if someone could go get her, that'd be nice."

The Huntresses had a quick, quiet discussion, before one of them, Thalia, scampered off to find the goddess. The remaining Huntresses did not move from their positions.

"So… Nice weather we're having."

No reaction from the Hunters.

"Yeesh, tough crowd," Percy muttered to himself.

Thankfully, the standoff ended when Thalia returned with Artemis, who gestured at her handmaidens to lower their weapons. They did so warily, but unwilling to disobey their mistress.

"So, spy, it seems you've not tried to escape," Artemis said disdainfully.

"Yeah, kinda hard to do without becoming a pincushion," Percy retorted. Artemis smirked, and gestured at her ladies again, telling them to return to their business. Then, she turned her full attention on Perseus.

"What were you doing on Olympus, spy?" she asked, curious.

"I told you, I was bored."

"So you decided that risking death was the best way to alleviate your boredom?"

"Well… I didn't really _decide_ anything. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, ya know?

"I know that you seem to be as stupid as other males."

Percy laid a hand over his heart. "I'm hurt. That hurts. Right here," Percy said, poking his chest for emphasis.

"Weak as other men, too."

Percy rolled his eyes, not that Artemis could see. "Whatever. By the way, why am I here?"

"You are here so I can keep an eye on you, determine your loyalties, and put you down if you are a threat to Olympus."

"Aw, c'mon, you can't _really_ think lil' ol' me can actually _threaten_ you all-powerful deities. After all, I _am_ just a weak male," Percy said mockingly.

"We shall see. For now, we shall lay down some ground rules. First, no bothering my Hunters. Second, no escaping. Third, if I tell you to do something, you do it. That is all."

"Hold up, who says I'm gonna work for you?"

"I did. Just now. Are you deaf?"

"No, I heard you. I'm just saying that you have no authority over me. Sure, I'll stay away from your girl scouts, but otherwise I'll do as I damn well please. Like escaping, for instance!" With that, Percy jumped away from Artemis' swing, then sprinted over to a shadow. He dove for it… And ended up face planting in the dirt.

"What!?" he cried, shocked. He didn't have time for more, because a swift kick from Artemis connected with his prone form, sending him a few dozen feet through the forest, until he hit a tree.

"Ugh…" the demigod groaned. He was disoriented, and he was sure something broke on impact. He sat up unsteadily, and was met with an arrow bare inches from his face.

"Uh… Hi. What the fuck did you do to me?" he asked.

" _I_ did nothing. I asked Hades to help me by preventing you from using Shadow Travel."

"Shadow _Walking_ ," Percy corrected, as if by reflex. His response was the arrow to inch closer to his face. "Okay, shutting up."

Artemis smirked. When all else failed, pure violence worked wonders in getting people to cooperate. Maye Ares was on to something…

"Up!" the goddess commanded. Percy obeyed, not really seeing much of a way out of this mess. "And while you're at it, take off the mask!"

"... What mask?" Percy asked. Artemis' eye twitched in annoyance.

"The mask _on your face_ , you fool!"

"Oh, _this_?" Percy asked, tapping on the bone-white substance.

"Yes, you simpleton!"

"No can do."

"Oh? And _why_ is _that_?"

"Ya see, this isn't really a mask- it's actually my face."

Artemis' lip curled into a sneer. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that!?" she cried, infuriated.

"Well, there was this accident when I was younger involving acid. A _lot_ of acid, and-"

"Alright, fine! Keep the stupid mask on, you insect!" Artemis interrupted, getting more and more pissed off.

"Hey, you're the one who asked!"

"I _asked_ for the _truth_ , not some fictitious story! Now, move!"

Artemis shoved the demigod back through the woods, and stopped in a clearing a fair distance away from the rest of her Hunters.

"You will be staying here, and if you try to escape, I will track you down and eviscerate you," Artemis told him.

"Woah. Aren't you supposed to, I dunno, keep me _alive_?"

"If you try to escape, I will be forced to assume it is to get to your master, to report on your findings. Olympus does _not_ take kindly to spies."

"Alright, I guess," Percy conceded, seeing the logic behind the decision, rude though it was. He looked around the clearing, noticing that it was bare. "So, I guess I don't get a tent or anything?"

Artemis smirked at him, enjoying the power she held over this spy. "Of course not. If you wish to sleep well, then you must procure your own accommodations."

"...How pissed would you be if I stole a tent from you?"

"You would lose every single one of your fingers- and your toes, for good measure."

"Ugh, fine. You can go now, I guess."

Artemis nodded, and walked back in the direction of her camp. She stopped at the edge of the clearing, and turned her head to speak to Percy once more. "And remember, stay _away_ from my Hunters."

"You got it, captain," Percy replied cheekily. Artemis clenched her fists in irritation, but let it drop, and went on her way.

Alone in the clearing, Percy sat down on the ground. "So… No tent… And I'm sleeping outside... This is some bullshit." After a few minutes of cloud watching, Percy had an idea. He closed his eyes, and prayed to his father. ' _Hey, Dad, Artemis is being a bitch and won't give me a tent. Think you can hook me up?'_

When nothing came after five minutes of waiting, Percy rolled his eyes and closed them once more. ' _If you help me out, I'll tell you everything sooner.'_

 _That_ got the Sea God's attention, and a sea green tent suddenly appeared next to the demigod. "Thanks, dad," he said out loud.

It took a little while to set up his tent, since he couldn't clearly remember his lessons from Camp Half-Blood, but he managed. Percy had just hammered in the last peg to hold the tent up when he noticed something strange; the zipper on the front was now a door. Confused, the son of Poseidon opened it, peering inside wearily. It looked _exactly_ like his mom's apartment, the one she moved into after Gabe got stoned. A brilliant smile lit up the man's face.

Percy explored the apartment, to make sure it was truly the same. The only difference was that there was one room less, probably because Percy was going to be the only person staying there. On the kitchen counter, he found an envelope. It had a border of sea shells, as well as a picture of a sand dollar in the center. Obviously, it was a letter from Poseidon.

It read, ' _I will hold you to that promise. I expect a full explanation within a year.'_

Percy smirked. A year was more than enough time to get his shit together. He could even prepare a whole powerpoint (not that he actually would)!

For now, though, Percy would simply kick back and relax. It was nice to be back on Gaia.

* * *

 **New chapter. Damn, my motivation is through the roof currently. No clue why, but hey, it works. However, that motivation is going to die if people don't tell me what they think through reviews. Criticize me, people! None of those simple 'good jobs' and whatnot- tell me what you liked and what you didn't. K bai :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Percy's good mood lasted about a week, before he got sick of everything. Artemis was just so _annoying_ , with her constant demands, and it was like she was always on her period, with how her mood shifted so suddenly. One minute, she was having fun with her handmaidens, then the next she was all ready to castrate him.

"Seriously," Percy muttered to himself one day, while resting on a tree stump in the forest, "Can anyone _be_ more bipolar?" He was currently a ways away from the Hunter's camp, in an effort to get some alone time.

It had been a long day of avoiding Artemis and her Hunters, while at the same time staying close enough to not be considered escaping, but Percy knew he toed the line excessively. He got his warning when Artemis herself teleported in front of him, and he nearly pissed himself. She had looked ready to skin him!

Instead, all she had done was inform him that she had turned his avoidance of her into a hunting exercise for her Hunters. Apparently, whoever found him first would get first pick at dinner time, which meant picking the best piece of meat, which Percy thought was a pretty damned good idea.

"Can I get first pick if I find myself?" he asked the goddess.

The baleful look she gave him sent shivers down his spine, and he felt the need to defend himself.

"Obviously not physically. Like, I'm right here," he clarified, pointing at himself for emphasis, "I meant if I do some soul-searching and find out something new about myself."

The glare did not diminish- if anything, it increased in intensity.

"Can you maybe _stop_ looking at me like? Seriously, you're friggin scary."

Artemis took a few steps forward, fingering the hunting knife at her side. She kept approaching, and Percy walked backwards, until he hit a tree. With nowhere to go, he was left sweating as Artemis stood mere inches away, her silver eyes boring into his yellow pupils.

"I _may_ reward you with first pick, _if_ you… Take your mask off."

Percy gasped, astounded at the cruelty of his captor. "You bitch!" he cried, earning himself a swift kick to the shin. "Ow, fuck! How could you give me such an impossible choice!?"

"It is quite a bit simpler than you believe," Artemis replied, "Either you do it, or you don't."

"Didn't I already tell you that this isn't a mask!? Are you deaf or something!?"

In hindsight, that was not the best thing to say, not when he was kneeling down on the ground, massaging his abused shin. This time, Percy's reward for his insolence was another kick, but to the head this time. The point of Artemis' metal-toed boot slammed into the upper-left corner of Percy's mask, cracking the bone-white substance.

"Oh shit."

Artemis was just as stunned as the demigod, but she recovered much quicker- probably because she didn't just get kicked in the face. Her shock morphed into malicious glee, and she lashed out with another kick. This blow had much more force, and caused Percy's head to snap to the right. This time, an entire section of his mask crumbled; the portion which covered his forehead. The bottoms of his eyebrows were visible- any lower, and Artemis may have seen his eyes, as opposed to the yellow glow which emanated from the mask's eyeholes.

"Fuck!" Percy shouted, panicking. He dove away from another kick, and began scrambling on all fours away from her. Once he was a few feet away, he pushed himself to his feet, and began full out sprinting.

"Hades! If you can hear me, don't fuck me over now!" Percy yelled. With that, he dove into the shadows of the nearest tree, praying to every god he knew- except Artemis, of course- that this worked. Much to his eternal relief, it did, and Percy silently cheered as he felt himself sink into the darkness. Much to his eternal displeasure, however, he also felt a hand wrap around his ankle, and he panicked.

The shadows were much stronger than Artemis, so this could end in two ways. Either Artemis ripped his leg off, and he spent the better part of a day growing it back, or the goddess would be pulled in with him.

Right now, he wished he had just lost the limb. The grip on his ankle did not relent, and remained steady as Percy sunk deeper and deeper into the shadows. He turned to look at his leg, and watched as a foreign hand passed into the realm of darkness, followed by an arm, a shoulder, and the rest of the goddess.

Percy saw the shock on Artemis' face as the biting cold hit her, and watched as she steadily grew purple, the shadows pulling all the air out of her lungs. Acting quickly, he grabbed the goddess, moments before her weakening body let go of his leg. That would have been especially bad, because she did not have the ability to traverse the shadows, and without an anchor, she could have gotten lost in the blackness, never to be seen again. Imagine trying to explain _that_ to Zeus.

Instinct took over, and Percy lunged for the nearest opening out of the realm between worlds, dragging the Moon Goddess with him. They burst out of the shadow of a tree near where they entered, since Percy had not been in there long enough to really get any distance.

Percy immediately laid Artemis down on the forest floor, watching worriedly as she gasped and spluttered for air, her eyebrows covered in white frost, and eyelids weighed down by frozen eyelashes. Slowly, the purple coloring in her face receded, allowing the pale tone of her natural skin to show once more. The ice melted, allowing her silver eyes to open once more. She remained gasping for another minute, while her body rested after being exposed to the void. Eventually though, she sat up, shivering and exhausted.

Percy heaved a heavy sigh of relief. "Artemis? Can you hear me?" he asked quietly. When there was no response, he slowly laid a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the way her parka was stiff from the chill. He shook her a bit, lightly so as not to startle her. FInally, the goddess looked at him.

"Can you hear me?" he asked once more. She didn't respond, and then the demigod noticed the golden ichor leaking from her ears. It seemed that the sudden extreme drop in ear pressure had demolished her eardrums.

"Shit…" Percy muttered. He stood up, intent on going to get Thalia or one of the other Hunters, when he was stopped by a light tugging on the leg of his jeans. He looked down, and was surprised it was Artemis who had grabbed onto him.

"N-n-no… Esc-c-caping…" she muttered, through chattering teeth and frozen lips.

Percy rolled his eyes. This was _not_ the time for this. He tried to move again, only for Artemis' grip to remain strong, and she murmured the same warning. Percy knew he had to get her some help, but if she refused to let him _go_ get help, then there was only one thing left to do; _take_ her to help.

Percy quickly gathered the goddess up in his arms- one under her knees, the other behind her back- and stood. She didn't fight, but then again, she was probably far too exhausted for such a thing.

Now, the only issue was getting her back to the camp. He had no clue where it was, and wasted a few precious moments turning around and about in an attempt to reorient himself. Unfortunately, all that succeeded in doing was making him even more hopelessly confused.

"Dammit…" Percy muttered, before getting frustrated enough to start running in a random direction. It was better than standing there like a dumbass.

After about a minute of his directionless dash, Percy noticed something tugging on the front of his black t-shirt. He stopped running, lest he trip, and looked down. It was Artemis, who was feebly pointing off to Percy's left. Was that where the Hunter's camp was?  
Considering it was his only lead, Percy took off in the direction Artemis pointed, doing his best to move quickly while also not jostling Artemis. He knew how painful it was to move while you were nearly frozen; the stiffness of your joint caused you to feel like you were going to shatter into a thousand pieces with every twitch.

It took a good five minutes before Percy broke out of the tree line, and stumbled across a collection of silver tents.

"Hey!" the demigod called out to the nearest hunter- he thought her name was Allie or something- who looked immensely shocked to see him and her mistress. "Get Thalia, tell her Artemis needs help! And grab some ambrosia and nectar while you're at it- I'm going to put her near the fire!"

Thankfully, the girl ran off without question. He did not need her to make a scene right now. Percy jogged toward the center of the tents, approaching the pile of logs in the center. He set Artemis down on the log which was closest to the fireplace, then ripped open a hole in the fabric of reality. Inside was a pocket dimension, which pulled out a sword from. It seemed to be a katana, with its narrow, long, slightly curved shape, as well as the blue, cloth-wrapped hilt. The sheath was the same blue color as the cloth, and had a few rings of metal protruding from it.

Percy drew the katana from his sheath, and was instantly engulfed in blue flames. He stabbed the fire-clad sword into the fireplace, causing the pile of logs to begin burning a brilliant azure color. That done, he sheathed the katana, then tossed it back into the pocket dimension.

He glanced at Artemis, and was relieved to see that the Moon Goddess was feeling the heat from the blue fire. He watched as she inched forward a little it, to be closer to the fire, then glanced up when he heard footsteps. It was Thalia, carrying a bag of ambrosia and a canteen of what Percy assumed to be nectar.

She was astounded to see how vulnerable Artemis looked, and immediately went to work the feeding the goddess the healing food and drink. She spared a moment to glare at Percy, only to have her eyes widen when she noticed the way the top of his mask was gone. The remaining edges were jagged and uneven, indicating that the damage was caused by brute force.

Percy caught her staring, and scolded her for taking her attention off Artemis. The daughter of Zeus turned back to her mistress, feeding the goddess some more nectar and ambrosia, before sitting next to her on the log. She turned to Percy, who was standing off to Artemis' right.

"What happened?" she asked, voice full of accusation.

Percy sighed, having figured this would happen. "Let's wait until Artemis recovers, so she can clear this up."

Thalia's glare intensified, but Percy ignored it. She was _nowhere_ near as intimidating as her half-sister, who currently trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, so Percy had a feeling he wouldn't be cowering anytime soon.

It was a very tense ten minutes, waiting for Artemis to get her wits about her, but it finally happened. Percy silently sighed in relief, while Thalia, and the rest of the Hunters who had gathered at some point, fussed over the goddess.

"Well, boy? Lady Artemis has recovered- speak!" Thalia demanded.

Percy crossed his arms, and stared directly in Thalia's eyes. The sickly yellow color unnerved her, but she stubbornly refused to turn away.

"Ask her," Percy said, nodding to Artemis, "It's her own damned fault, anyways. Honestly, doin' some stupid shit like that…" He trailed off, grumbling angrily to himself.

Thalia, along with the majority of the Hunters, were just about to jump to their feet and charge the arrogant male, when Artemis spoke up. "Ladies, stand down. He speaks the truth. It _was_ my own fault. I tried to follow him when he Shadow Traveled-"

"Shadow _Walked_ ," Percy corrected petulantly.

"...Shadow _Walked_ , but I was… unprepared for the experience."

"So why is his mask broken?" A blonde Huntress asked.

"That would be my fault, again. I was trying to make him remove the mask, and resorted to kicking him in the head until the entire thing shattered. He only Shadow… _Walked_ , in an attempt to escape. I must admit, I was being unusually cruel, and for that I apologize," she finished, directing the last bit at Percy. His eyes widened, though none of the ladies could see it.

"...I'm still not taking off the mask," he replied, averting his gaze from Artemis' silver eyes. To emphasize his point, he summoned those red-tinged black flames to his hand, and covered his face with them. When the fire faded, his mask was revealed to be in pristine condition. He heard a few of the Hunter's gasp, which he ignored.

"Well, I think that's been enough excitement for the day- I'm going to bed."

Without so much as a wave farewell, Percy turned on his heel, and walked away from the group of girl scouts. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, to hide how much they were shaking. Though he would never admit it, that mess had shaken him up, and he needed some solitude to regain his equilibrium.

At his apartment/tent, Percy kicked off his shoes, tossed his purple hoodie onto the couch, and retreated to his room. He was suddenly exhausted, and figured a nap would do him some good.

* * *

As the Hunters watched the unnamed man walk away, they turned to their mistress. Thalia was the first to speak.

"Lady Artemis, why is that male here in the first place? We've respected your demand to not ask, but after this…"

Artemis sighed, and readjusted herself on the log. "Yes, I suppose I should have told you on the first day. He is here because it is my responsibility to contain him."

"Contain him?" Phoebe asked, "Is he dangerous?"

"Well, that is another one of my responsibilities; to figure out where his loyalties lie." Many of the Hunters were confused by that, which Artemis noticed. "Perhaps I should start from the beginning. During the Winter Solstice Assembly, Hades revealed that there was a spy in the throne room, then pulled that man out of the shadows. We have no clue who or what he is, since he refuses to take off his mask, but he insists he is not a threat to Olympus, and was only there because he was _bored_. My father was not satisfied by that, of course, and demanded that someone watch over him, to make sure he does not _become_ a threat to Olympus. I volunteered, because you girls need practice with live targets. The moving ones we have cannot account for the unpredictability of a living creature, so I took the opportunity. That is about it."

The Hunter's were silent, and Artemis knew they were examining her words.

"Wait," said a daughter of Athena, who analyzed the story quickly, "Does that mean we're actually allowed to shoot at him?"

Artemis laughed. "Yes, Lily, you can shoot at him."

A collective cheer went up throughout the group, and Artemis laughed more, before calming down. "Well, I think that's enough resting for you ladies. Back to work!"

The goddess' followers obeyed, getting up and going to do whatever they were doing before disaster struck.

Artemis, meanwhile, remained seated. She still felt a bit chilly, so she basked in the heat of the blue flames which filled the campfire. She had seen the spy's method for lighting the fire, and was now much more curious about him. There was also the fact that he saved her, despite the fact that he could have left her to die in that lightless realm, and then escaped before anyone knew. But he didn't. Instead, he saved her life, even helped her recover...

That man was a puzzle. An infuriating one, with a bad mouth. But Artemis was determined to figure him out.

* * *

 **Yay, more sassy Percy. Do y'all think this is a good start to the beginning of a foundation of a relationship? If not, tell me what I'm doing wrong. K bai :D**


	10. Chapter 10

Percy woke up that morning with a feeling of dread. He had no clue why, but normally it was not wise to ignore those. Which is precisely what he did. The demigod went through with his morning routine; brushing teeth, showering, eating, putting on his mask. You know, the works. That done, Percy walked out of his tent/apartment, and took a moment to simply observe nature.

The birds were chirping, the leaves were rustling in the wind, the sun was blazing in the sky- and now there's an arrow in his shoulder. He stared at the offending projectile, as if he didn't register what it was. Finally, he got his shit together, and yanked the arrow out, leaving a bloody hole in blue shirt.

"Alright, I hope whoever shot that has fifty dollars! These clothes ain't cheap!" Percy called into the forest, then turned around and went back into his apartment. The demigod crushed his mask; he would not need it today, he thought, especially since he was _not_ dealing with that bullshit- he'd much rather stay cooped up in his room all day.

Besides, it wasn't like his apartment was boring, and devoid of entertainment. If anything, it was the most fun place Percy had access to at the moment. There was a PS4 hooked up to his living room, and his dad had sent a _ton_ of games. Percy was pretty sure the god had given him just about every game for the console in existence, since there was an entire bookshelf dedicated to games. Percy quickly changed his shirt, dumping the now ruined one in the trash, before heading to examine said bookshelf.

There were new ones, which Percy had seen the trailers for on his laptop, such as God of War, or Far Cry 5. There were mainstream ones, like Call of Duty and Battlefield. There were even a few obscure ones, such as Little Big Planet 3. All in all, a _lot_ of games, which would provide countless weeks (perhaps months, if Percy wanted to be a perfectionist and complete everything the game had to offer) of fun, and nobody could stop him.

Unless they walked into his tent like they owned the place, like Artemis just did. Percy was lucky he had fairly quick reflexes, because he just barely managed to get his mask on in time. However, Artemis still saw the fading black flames, and narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the barely-missed opportunity.

"Um, hi? The fuck are ya doin'?" Percy asked from his place by the bookshelf.

"Just checking up on you to make sure you didn't try to escape," Artemis replied.

Percy sighed, picking up on the subtle message. "Listen, yesterday was an accident, and you even said it was totally your fault! What more do you want?"

"You already know what I want."

"And _I_ already told you I'm not taking the mask off. So go, run off and frolic with your little girl scouts." With that, Percy turned his attention back to the bookshelf, pulling a game off it; Horizon: Zero Dawn. He examined the cover, cracked open the case, and slid the disc inside the console. That done, he grabbed the TV remote, turned on the screen, and sat down on the couch, controller in hand. He was all set to dive right into the game, ignoring the goddess until she got pissed and left.

Unfortunately, his concentration was once more broken when he felt a weight settle on the couch next to him. He blinked slowly, fighting the temptation to look at the disturbance. It was one he ultimately lost, and he slowly turned his masked face. He met Artemis' silver eyes, and they stared at each other for a long moment.

"So, _what_ , exactly, do you think you're doing?" Percy finally asked.

"Ensuring you remain in captivity," Artemis calmly answered.

"Really? 'Cause it looks a lot like you're slacking off."

Artemis' eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. "Don't look at me like that! Shouldn't you be off doing… whatever the hell you do with your Hunters?"

"I am performing the duties given to me by my father, the King of Olympus. They will understand if I am not there, and Thalia is a capable lieutenant. She will be able to deal with any issues they might have."

Percy sank back into his seat, exasperated beyond belief. "Just _say_ you're lazy, and be done it. Honestly, givin' these long-ass explanations for no reason…" the demigod muttered.

Artemis was quite irritated by his sass, and responded with a punch to the shoulder. She frowned when Percy didn't react, so she tried again. And again. And _again._

The entire time, she was growing more and more angry when the man remained more focused on the game's introduction cutscene than the goddess beating on him.

"What is _wrong_ with you!?" Artemis finally cried. She sat back with a huff.

"What do you _mean_ , what's wrong with me!?" Percy asked indignantly, "I'm not the one who walked up into someone's apartment and started beating the fuck out of 'em! Now, shut up if you're gonna stay here, I'm tryin' to watch this."

Artemis wanted to respond, but realized that she actually _was_ being quite annoying. In fact, this was something Apollo would do, _had done_ to her (not exactly in the same situation, but the principle was the same). She huffed once more, irritated by both her own actions and the man's reaction, but remained quiet, and watched as Percy played the game. After a few cutscenes, Artemis was quite confused.

"What is this game about?" When there was no response, she asked again. Percy remained silent, and hadn't even glanced at the goddess. Annoyed, she shoved the demigod, who spasmed at the unexpected contact.

"What!?" he cried, startled enough that it shocked Artemis as well. She recovered quickly.

"I asked what this game is about. Are you deaf?"

"You did? Oh, my bad, guess I wasn't paying attention. Uh… Pass me my laptop."

Artemis grabbed the computer on the coffee table in front of them, though she was slightly confused. "Can't you just _tell_ me?"

"No, 'cause I don't know either,"

"So why are you playing it?"

"The cover looked cool. It's there, on the table." Percy nodded his head to the game's case, and returned to the computer.

Artemis shook her head, amused by his fickleness, then grabbed the case. She examined it, taking in the young woman with a bow, dressed in furs and tribal marks, and the massive robot dinosaur thing that looked incredibly pissed off.

"Well, I suppose I can understand why a _boy_ would be interested in something like this."

"Don't act all snooty," Percy replied, "I bet you wanna play, too." When Artemis did not respond to that, Percy mentally chalked it up as a victory. "Anyways, come here. I found the trailer."

Artemis complied, scooting over until she was sitting next to Percy. He turned the laptop slightly so they could both see properly, turned up the volume on the computer, then hit play.

The first few seconds were a very intense montage of a woman locked in combat with mechanical animals, using nothing but a bow, her legs, and a horse-looking machine in one clip. At some point, the two had leaned forward slightly in anticipation, bringing their heads close together.

"I _told_ you it looked cool," Percy commented when the screen faded to black for a second. Artemis nodded silently, her close proximity to the demigod causing her auburn hair to rub against his mask a bit. He took in the scent of the forest, then focused back on his computer when the trailer switched to a new scene.

It showed a young girl, who likely grew up to be the woman they had previously seen, being given to a caretaker, exploring a cave, and finding a strange, triangular object which seemed to scare her. The scene switched, and now she was grown up, rock climbing, shooting machines, then slowly exploring the world, as a man explained the mystery of the world, and why it may not be a good idea to search for answers. The trailer ended with a masked man holding the woman, Aloy, over a cliff, yelling at her, then stabbing her in the neck. Artemis flinched at the unexpectedness of the scene, causing her to slam into Percy's mask.

Percy jerked backwards as well, startled so much that he almost dropped his laptop. "Shit!" he cried, "Relax, woman! It's just a game!"

"That excuses nothing! They killed a very capable maiden!" Artemis shouted

"She's the main character! There's no way they'd kill her!" Percy responded, in an attempt to calm her down. "Plus, are we totally gonna ignore the fact that she's not real?"

Artemis settled back into the couch, crossing her arms, glaring at the TV screen.

"Jesus," Percy muttered, "I thought you were supposed to be thousands of years old, but here you are acting like a teenager…" He received an elbow to his side for his trouble. Artemis hadn't bothered moving back to her side of the couch, so she was still close enough to do that comfortably.

Percy rubbed his side- she had some sharp elbows!- before unpausing the game. After a few more cutscenes, and some general exploring, Percy embarked on the game's first main quest, which required making fire arrows and getting a new weapon.

"Do you use fire arrows?" Percy asked Artemis.

"Well, we have _Greek fire_ arrows, but we tend to stay away from those, considering how quickly it spreads. They're also a pain to put out."

Percy hummed in agreement, then muttered, "The heck is a tripcaster?"

"Probably a weapon that _casts_ a _trip_ wire," Artemis responded mockingly. Percy glared at her out of the corner of his eye, but she wouldn't have seen it. So, he also elbowed her in the sides. He was not very surprised when she retaliated, so he did it again, then blocked her next attack with his controller, which he had slipped under his arm.

"Hey, we're even now," he told her, in an effort to get the goddess to stop.

"I don't play for _even_ , I play to _win_!" she replied, then outmaneuvered his controller shield and drove home a blow to his ribs. Percy jolted a bit, feeling some air get forced out of his lungs, before he rallied and struck back. The goddess and demigod spent a minute doing this, until Artemis tapped into her godly strength, and jabbed at Percy hard enough that a loud crack was heard from the point of contact.

"Ouch," he muttered, then prodded the injury. The bone was still there, so it was a simple crack. Nothing his high-speed regeneration couldn't take care of in a few minutes.

Artemis, however, was lot less nonchalant than Percy. She gasped, hands waving around in her panic. "Sorry! I didn't think that would happen!" she cried, surprising Percy. He figured she would've never been caught dead apologizing to a male. Then again, he also thought she would never willingly sit next to a male, but look where we are today.

"Relax," he told her, "It's nothing serious, just a crack. It'll heal in a moment."

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked, confused. Had he eaten ambrosia while she wasn't looking or something?

"I have super fast regeneration, and it works pretty well," Percy explained. He saw the doubt in her face. "Wanna test it?"

"What?"

"I asked, do you wanna test it? Gosh, are ya deaf or something?" he teased, repeating her earlier words, then laughed when she almost elbowed him in his abused side. "Nice one, beat on the injured guy some more."

He laughed some more when she clenched her jaw and turned her head away with a huff.

"Alright, pass me your knife."

"Huh?"

"Ugh, it's not that funny anymore. You heard me."

"Why do you need _my_ knife?" Artemis asked warily, "Why can't you use one of your weapons? Like that katana you pulled out nowhere yesterday?"

"That stuff… Isn't for casual use," Percy said, grimly. Artemis wanted to ask more about it, but decided not to after hearing his tone. Instead, she pulled her hunting knife out of the sheath on her hip, and handed it to the masked man. He held the knife, testing the weight and balance, spinning it a few times. It was about a half-foot long, with a smooth blade on one side and jagged teeth on the other.

"Ooh, this is nice… Can I keep it?" he asked jokingly.

"Absolutely _not_!" Artemis exploded, startling Percy. He leaned away from her a bit.

"Woah, sorry, it was just a joke! It's yours!" he cried, tossing it into her lap, too scared to hold onto it anymore.

Artemis calmed down once she had her knife back, and heaved a sigh. They were silent for a moment, the goddess looking sadly at the blade, and Percy watching warily, in case she decided to use it on him. Finally, she looked up, and the demigod's muscles tensed.

"Sorry, just… This knife belonged to someone dear to me, so I'd rather if you don't say things like that, even as a joke. Some things should not be played around with."

Percy nodded. "Don't worry, I understand." They remained silent for a moment, remembering painful memories, before Percy spoke up once more. "Cut me."

"...What?"

"I said I was going to show you my regeneration, didn't I? So, cut me," Percy said, holding his hand out to Artemis. She stared at it for a moment, before gently grabbing his wrist. She examined his hand for a long moment, amusing Percy.

"Having fun?" he asked quietly. After all, it might not be a good idea to startle someone with a knife.

"No, it's just that… Your hands are unblemished. It is odd- aren't you a warrior?"

"Yeah, I've done some fighting in my time. I guess it's because I keep switching weapons, so I can't really build up calluses in the places where the hilt rubs against, because every handle is a different shape and touches different spots. Sometimes, I don't even use a weapon, and other times I just don't fight."

"And what about the lack of scars?"

"Regeneration, which you would _see_ if you just cut me already," Percy said, exasperated.

Taking the hint, Artemis raised her blade, and slowly poked it at the center of his palm. So hesitant was the contact that it didn't break skin. Slightly annoyed now, Percy simply grabbed the blade and squeezed.

Artemis jerked backwards, yanking the knife out of Percy's grasp, but it was too late. A bit of blood stuck to the blade, but the majority of it pooled in Percy's now-cupped palm. The demigod raised his bleeding right hand to his mask, then to the goddess' surprise, opened both the mouth of his mask and his real mouth. He then tipped his hand so the blood fell into his mouth. With a gulp, Percy closed his mouths, then showed his red hand to Artemis. He noticed the look she was giving him.

"What?"

"Did you _have_ to… _Drink_ it?" she asked, disgusted.

"Where else was I gonna put it? In your hair?"

"If you had done that, I would have castrated you!"

"Big words for someone who was barely able to cut me just now," Percy teased. Then, he noticed a familiar sensation on his palm. "Look," he told her. She did, and watched in awe as a white substance bubbled up from the wounded area, then hardened, covering Percy's palm in a streak of bone-white matter, similar to the stuff his mask was made from. With a flex of his hand, the white substance shattered, then dissolved, leaving behind smooth, unmarked skin.

"What was that?" she asked, running her fingers over the healed area.

"It's one of the powers that my mask grants me. Another one would be the Shadow Walking."

Artemis nodded, then opened her mouth to speak. Percy cut her off, saying, "And _no_ , I'm not taking my mask off."

The Moon Goddess frowned. "That wasn't what I was going to ask. I was going to ask what the difference is between Shadow Travel and Shadow Walking."

"Oh, sorry. I'm so used to that being the main topic of our conversations." He leaned away slightly from the glare she was giving him, but recovered quickly. "Anyways, the difference is pretty subtle, I guess. Shadow Travel is much, _much_ faster, but at the same time very limited. With Travel, you go from point A to point B, and that's it. However, with Shadow Walking, you still go from A to B, but you can also make little stops at C, D, E, and so on. You understand?"

"Ah… That is quite interesting. What is it like, to be able to do that?" Artemis asked, still caressing his hand.

"Hm… It's pretty scary, to be honest. You probably couldn't see, since you don't have an affinity for the shadows, but the shadow world isn't just a void of darkness. It looks pretty similar to the normal world, but all the colors are… Muted, I guess, would be the right word. There's no sound, no wind, no _movement_ , which… Kinda gets to me, every now and then. I don't like being in a place that's so _dead_ , because it makes me feel like I'll get trapped if I stay too long. The trees don't have leaves, flowers don't bloom, and there are piles of dust everywhere- I'm pretty sure they were corpses at one point. I don't know if there were ever living creatures in there, beside the occasional traveler, but I suppose we'll never know. Unless..." Percy trailed off, then shuddered. He gently pulled his hand out of Artemis' grasp, surprising the goddess, who had forgotten it was there. He kept shivering, rubbing his arms slowly in an effort to stave off the feeling of dread. Unfortunately, it did not work very well.

"Sorry for being so sudden, Artemis, but… Can you go, just for now?"

"What? Why!?" Artemis asked, shocked by his, as he said, sudden dismissal of her.

"I can't explain right now. Please? You can come back in a few days if you want, I'll be fine then, but right now…"

Artemis stared at the man, who was now visibly shivering, before slowly nodding. "I expect an explanation, and _soon_."

"Well, I don't know about soon…" Percy attempted to joke, but it came out far more grim than he planned. "Seriously, _go._ "

Artemis could _hear_ how much effort it took for him to get those words out, so she quickly fled, feeling like a coward. She had no clue what had happened, but it scared her, and she _hated_ being scared. Being scared meant being vulnerable, which was not a good position for a maiden to be in.

Artemis jogged back to her tent, greeting the few hunters she passed along the way. The goddess was lucky that she had taken a more distant approach to the training of her handmaidens. It forced them to rely more on each other, building a strong bond of friendship and sisterhood, while they respected her like the Olympian she was. She didn't want them thinking she had gotten soft by being _too_ friendly with them, after all. However, the biggest advantage of her hands-off method was that it allowed her to disappear for the majority of the day, without being questioned. Like she had done today, spending the entire morning with the mysterious man… Whose name she _still_ did not know. What was she supposed to call him…?

Well, whoever he was, his hands were really warm…

* * *

Percy was shaking violently now. He had managed to push himself up to his feet, and was now stumbling through his apartment, trying desperately to get to his room. It was only ten, maybe fifteen feet between the living room couch and his bed, but it felt more like ten or fifteen miles. Each step took more energy than the last, and the demigod had to support himself with the wall.

When he was outside his room door, Percy didn't even have the energy to open the door, so he simply slumped down to the floor. His teeth were chattering behind his mask, a mask which suddenly shattered and evaporated. He no longer had the strength to keep it on.

Black bled out his sclera, and his sickly yellow eyes faded to sea-green. Then, his eyes closed. Moments before he slipped into unconsciousness, the son of the sea heard a voice.

" _So… You dared to think of me, young demigod?"_

Everything went black.

* * *

 **Ooh, cliffhanger. Spooky. I don't know if I can write cliffhangers properly. It doesn't feel like it to me, but that's because I already basically know what's going on. So tell me, readers, are you in suspense? Did the moment with Artemis seem fluffy? Too forced? Tell me what y'all think. K bai :D**


	11. Chapter 11

Artemis was getting worried. The spy hadn't been out of his tent in a week, and even the Hunters, who rarely saw him, were getting curious. They might figure out soon that he was the reason the Hunt hadn't packed up and moved on like they normally did. Their stay here in California had been extended quite a bit.

The Moon Goddess remembered the state he had been in the last time she had seen him; weak, shaky, and perhaps even scared. If not scared, then at the very least, worried. Did she make the right choice, abandoning him when he so obviously needed help? What if he only wanted her gone to save to his pride?

For some reason, Artemis didn't think that was the case, despite the fact that he was a male. The fear in his voice had been palpable, and he even sounded worried _for_ Artemis, as if _she_ had been the one shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Was her seeing that truly such a terrible thing? And was she a terrible person for running away so readily?

" _Why am I so worried about a male? Especially one whose name I don't even know?"_ Artemis wondered suddenly. She didn't know where the thought came from, but it sure got her mind working. Why _was_ she worried about a male? The normal Artemis would've just dismissed the suffering of a man, thinking he deserved it somehow. And she _definitely_ would have struck down any male who spoke to her like the spy did… So why didn't she?

It had something to do with those memories of a far away place. They were hers, no doubt, but at the same time... _Not_. They blended seamlessly with the rest of her mind, save for a few glaring differences, which were all that notified her of the alien presence now in her head. She had tried to isolate and analyze those memories a few times since getting them, but every attempt simply left her with a raging headache, which gods weren't even supposed to _get_.

Now, though, she had a feeling the answers to her questions were hidden within those foreign, familiar memories.

* * *

Sitting in a clearing in the forest, Artemis assumed a standard meditation pose, shut off her other senses, and did nothing but _feel_. She felt the gentle breeze, changing direction more than Aphrodite changed clothes. The sunlight was warm, fighting with the trees to cover Artemis completely in the light. Apollo was too overprotective, sometimes, and he had quite the irrational fear of their Uncle Hades. The tree stump she sat on was solid, unmoving like the earth. The earth, which no longer pulsated with power- not since Gaia was laid to rest once more.

The thought of Gaia led to thoughts of the most recent war, and the heroes of said war; Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Annabeth Chase, and Perseus Jackson. That seemed to be the trigger, because suddenly, Artemis was no longer sitting on a tree stump in the middle of the forest. Now, she was standing in Camp Half-Blood, in the dead of night. The moon shone brightly in the clear sky, and it seemed as if all of Long Island was silent. There were no birds chirping, no insects buzzing, and the monsters which roamed the woods laid quiet- either sleeping or stalking prey. The ocean was calm, no waves lapping against the beach. The air was still, no breezes rustling leaves, or shifting the grass. The campers were all sleeping like the dead, so quiet that Artemis feared they actually _were_ dead... Until she realized the position she was in, and the worry for the campers faded.

She stood there, bow in hand, arrow nocked and aimed at… Perseus Jackson?

"Lady Artemis!?" he cried, shocked by her presence.

"It is indeed I, _boy_. Now, would you care to explain to me exactly _why_ you are walking amongst the living, when you should, in fact, be dead?" Artemis replied. She felt her lips moving, heard the sounds coming out, but Artemis knew she wasn't the one actually talking. This was the memory speaking.

"Oh… Um… Would you believe me if I said I was just taking a stroll? Ya know, just a little walk down memory lane, and-" Perseus was saying, but stopped when Memory-Artemis adjusted her bow.

"I have no time for your excuses. Answer me truthfully, or I shall drag you in chains before the Olympian Council, which, may I remind you, did not take kindly to your trying to destroy them," she said, none-too-kindly.

"Wait, wait! There's no need for all of that! You see, the Fates, they just up and abducted me from…" Perseus said, then trailed off. It was if he was unsure what to say next.

"From Elysium?" Memory-Artemis finished for him. The man nodded hesitantly, almost as if that was not what he was going to say.

"Ah, well, would ya look at the time! I should probably be getting back to, uh, Elysium before Hades notices my absence. It was nice talking to you, Lady Artemis!" Perseus said quickly, before he did something completely astounding; he turned on his heel, leapt into the air, and started _flying_.  
Both Artemis and Memory-Artemis knew that, as a son of Poseidon, that should have been impossible. Somehow, Memory-Artemis was less surprised than Artemis, but that did not stop the memory from being too astounded to fire any arrows. They watched the man speed out of sight, then stared at where he had been for a good minute. Memory-Artemis shook her head, slinging her bow over her shoulder. She walked over to Cabin Eight, entered, and sat down on the silver-sheeted bed.

She sat there for what must have been a half-hour, so very confused. Artemis listened Memory-Artemis' thoughts for a while. Apparently, in this far away place, Perseus had been the one to help Kronos rise, rather than Luke Castellan, who was the one that actually saved Olympus. It seemed that the two had switched places, so where Luke Castellan had died in Artemis' world, Perseus Jackson was the one that died in Memory-Artemis' world. The Elysium comment made sense now, barely.

It seemed that Memory-Artemis was not excessively shocked when Perseus' feet left the ground, since it was not unheard of for spirits to float, but outright flying? That was what got her.

Meanwhile, Artemis felt like her mind was going to collapse into a black hole of confusion. Since when were alternate worlds actually a thing!? She had heard the theories of the mortals, but she thought that those specific mortals had been touched by Dionysus, so she ignored them. To find out they were right, even if they themselves didn't know it…

It was trippy, to say the least. Artemis was glad when she exited the memory, because she actually did have a headache now. At the very least, she learned something new, so the consequences weren't _as_ bad. They still sucked, though, so Artemis went back to the Hunter's camp to get some nectar.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Artemis sifted through some more memories, taking a sip of nectar whenever she exited one to stave off each new headache. With every memory, she learned a new thing, and she wasn't sure if she liked that or not.

Some things were nice, such as the celebration of each Hunter's birthday (it helped give her some ideas for presents). Some things were… Less than pleasant, such as watching a Hunter die, or arriving too late to help a maiden in need, and only being able to clean up the aftermath.

Many memories just outright confused her. Those were the ones involving Perseus Jackson, the supposed dead traitor/hero who had somehow become a constant fixture in her other self's life. Sometimes she was shooting him with arrows, threatening to chain him and bring him before Zeus to be punished. Other times, they were much calmer, having philosophical discussions. They even had some moments of companionable silence! One thing was for sure, though; their 'friendship' did _not_ start out as a friendship- more like a truce between enemies. Other-Artemis agreed not to turn him in to Olympus or Hades, and Perseus kept her entertained with stories, and discussions. This was where things got trickier once a truth was revealed; apparently, the Perseus her other self was hanging around was the Perseus from this world, the one who fought _against_ Kronos. He told Memory-Artemis about being transported to another world, and told her about the things he had done back home. Apparently, she was the only person he told- not even Other-Poseidon knew! He had said it was because Other-Artemis was the person least likely to try and use the information against him, that he had come to trust her after all their time together. That made Artemis feel oddly warm. She had no clue why, so she just ignored it for now.

That was as far as she got, because the moon had replaced the sun in the sky at some point. She trekked back to the Hunter's camp, which was not actually that far, and turned in for the night. She was slightly annoyed that she hadn't found her answer yet, but she knew it was somewhere in her head, just waiting for her to find it. She went to sleep that night, thinking of sea-green eyes and bone-white masks.

* * *

 **Artemis-centric chapter. Did I do a good job, or not, and why? Lol sounds like a question you would see in school, which is coming up alarmingly fast, and I still haven't even started my summer homework :O Am I updating too fast? Is it causing the quality of my work to deteriorate? Btw random thing but I apparently have 120k+ words archived. Also btw, this is my first story to reach a chapter with double digits, tis lit. K bai :D**


	12. Chapter 12

In her dreams, Artemis finally got her answers. Her last thoughts had been of sea-green eyes and bone-white masks, but the two had been completely separate. After all, the eyes had been embedded in a face, while the mask had glowing yellow sockets. For some odd reason, however, her subconscious decided to merge them, resulting in a bone-white mask _hiding_ sea-green eyes. It made sense, though the goddess didn't know why.

Then, it clicked. The reason she was so comfortable around the masked man was because his mannerisms were extremely similar to that of someone she trusted- or rather, someone her alternate self trusted; Perseus Jackson. In fact, they were so similar, she almost wouldn't hesitate to call them the same person. _Almost_.

The Perseus she knew didn't have all these powers, and it seemed like he trusted her enough to have told her alternate self. Sure, she had yet to sift through all those memories, but nothing he had showed particularly jumped out at her. The mask, the black and blue flames, the katana, the Shadow Walking- none of it seemed familiar.

However, she simply could _not_ ignore the way they both acted. Once upon a time, Perseus had been a shy, awkward teen, but in some of the later memories that Artemis had examined, Perseus was quite different. He was not afraid to speak his mind, whether it offended someone off or not, and he swore a lot more, even doing so in casual conversation, like the spy. The way he carried himself spoke of someone who had no worries, like the spy. He even acted as childish as the spy, which was hard, because sometimes Artemis was convinced that the masked man was secretly a newborn somehow operating a much older body.

Their hair was the exact same color, though that didn't really mean anything. Many people had the same hair color, or dyed it. They seemed to be about the same height, just over six feet tall, and had similar builds, but that could also be a coincidence.

Unfortunately, Artemis' subconscious seemed to have become obsessed with the notion, playing memories of the spy and Perseus side-by-side, as if she were watching on a screen that was split down the half. They acted so similar, _looked_ so similar, that Artemis could no longer tell the difference. The figures of the masked man and Perseus soon became interchangeable, with either appearing in a scene in place of the other.

Suddenly, she woke, flipped over, and frustratedly screamed into her pillow. Once she realized what she was doing, she summoned the knife she had been given by Zoe, and stabbed it hilt-deep into the pillow, reaching the mattress. She was furious now; she was the Olympian Goddess Artemis, not some love-sick teen! And she would prove it (not that anyone doubted her)!

She would start by treating this filthy spy like the vile male he was, which included paying him back for all his disrespect. Then, she would prove who was truly in charge by forcing him to take his mask off, whether it be by yanking the accursed thing off, or simply slamming his face into the ground until it _shattered_! She would show her traitorous mind that this masked bastard was _not_ Perseus Jackson!

What was she doing, getting bewitched by him, anyways!? He could _actually_ be a spy, and this was all an elaborate plan to get her to let him go! Saving her, playing nice with her huntresses, spending the morning with her a week ago (despite the fact that it wasn't actually optional for him)- it could all be a ruse!

This train of thought was the fuel feeding Artemis' ever-growing fire of rage, but she let it happen. She needed something to prevent her from falling back into that pathetic mindset, and anger was the perfect motivator. After all, how could she be in… No, not _in_ , _anything_! How could she be _comfortable_ around someone she hated?

* * *

Artemis stormed through the collection of silver tents, scaring away many of huntresses with the intensity of her aimless glare, and causing all of them to look away due to the way she was glowing. They thought their mistress was so enraged she was about to accidentally reveal her true form, and that would've been messy. Thalia was the only one with enough courage- or maybe the only one brash enough- to stop the goddess from continuing on her warpath.

"Lady Artemis, may I ask why you are so… Angry?"

"No!" Artemis barked, then walked around Thalia and went along her way. Thalia blinked; normally, moments like that end up with the angry person insulting the obstacle- Thalia, in this case- and then breaking down and admitting everything. She was _not_ ready to be ignored like that.

Another Hunter, a daughter of Ares named Louise, grabbed Thalia by the shoulder, shaking her head at the daughter of Zeus. It was a bit strange, getting told by a child of war that you should back down from a battle, but Thalia listened. If anything, Louise being the one to deliver the warning made it more effective; she was, after all, a very unexpected source.

* * *

Meanwhile, Artemis had finally made her way to the spy's tent, which for some reason that she didn't care to think about, had a door and the interior of an apartment. She was more concerned with the person inside. Artemis slammed her fist on the wooden door multiple times, causing it to shake on its hinges with every blow.

"Spy! Open this door, _now_!" she yelled, emphasising her command with several more hard knocks. The door did open, revealing the masked man himself, but he seemed a bit different. For one, his mask now had a single horn, attached to his left temple, which seemed to weigh his head down to that side. It had a jagged base, but then transitioned into a long spike, ending in a sharp point. Some parts of the mask were cracked, and a few small chips were missing. He was also leaning heavily against the doorframe, and Artemis could hear his heavy, exhausted breathing.

"What?" he growled, then began to breathe noticeably harder. It was as if the words took an extreme amount of energy to form.

Artemis was tempted to ask him what was wrong, but then she remembered why she was here. Steeling herself, Artemis threw a fist into the spy's masked face. She had tapped into her godly strength, causing the man to go flying backwards. He landed on the living room coffee table, breaking the piece of furniture under his weight. A piece of his mask had broken off, which wasn't too surprising, considering the mask's fragile state and the power behind that blow. The spy's right cheek was now mostly exposed.

He laid there for a second, then struggled to sit up. After a few shaky moments, he had managed to crawl to one knee, where he remained, nearly gasping for air. "You… Do not… Want to do this… RIght now…" he wheezed out, and Artemis nearly laughed.

Did this foolish male really think he had any room to bargain, especially when he was in such a pathetic state!?

Anger driving her, Artemis bolted forward and lashed out with a kick to the spy's right temple, where there was no horn. She was _completely_ unprepared for this panting, seemingly exhausted man to grab her outstretched foot with lightning-fast reflexes. She nearly gasped, but was unable to when the spy surged to his own feet, then crushed the goddess' throat with his free hand. He had not let go of her leg, leaving Artemis in an awkward position, but the spy paid no mind to that, instead lifting the immortal in his hand and moving forward so that her back was up against the wall.

He held her there for a few seconds, staring into her silver eyes with those sickly yellow lights. In that instant, Artemis knew she had made a mistake with her random crusade.

"I'm… Only going to… Ask you… Once… What… Are you… _Doing!?_ " the spy growled, shouting the last words right into her ears. His hold on her throat tightened, and Artemis suddenly found herself unable to breathe, much less answer his question. She was grabbing his wrist with both her hands, exerting as much godly strength as she could on the limb to push it away, but to no avail. He had a grip stronger than diamond, and the goddess was sure that if his hand was coming off anytime soon, it would be accompanied by her ripped-out esophagus. Artemis was truly regretting her rash decisions now.

Just as her sight began to fade, and the edges of her vision grew fuzzy, the vice-grip on her throat was released. The spy collapsed to his knees so suddenly that Artemis, not expecting such a thing, fell to the floor with him, landing on her rear end. She stared at the masked man, watched as he took in huge lungfuls of air, as if he couldn't get enough. He was hunched over, staring at his hands, which were curled into claws- whether out of anger or pain, she had no clue. Artemis crawled forward, hesitantly, forgetting about just what she came to do. In hindsight, this also proved to be a foolish decision.

She laid a gentle hand on the spy's shoulder. "Are you-?" she got out, before the spy's head snapped up, and he _roared_ at her. It was a bestial roar, more like something you hear out of a drakon or a dragon than a much smaller human-shaped creature, and the suddenness shocked her. Startled greatly, Artemis threw herself backwards, slamming into the wall. She didn't stay there for long, though; she had gotten the message, and scrambled to her feet. Without even a second glance at the spy, the goddess rushed out the apartment, slamming the door behind her so hard it cracked. She ran all the way back to her tent, once more ignoring her hunters.

Inside her tent, Artemis collapsed to the ground, the adrenaline leaving her once her body finally realized the danger was gone. She was panting almost as hard as the spy, purely out of fear. She had no clue what she was dealing with, since she had never encountered anything with a mask like that, so she didn't know how dangerous that… _Thing_ , was. Had the spy become a monster? Was he going to burst out of that sea-green tent and slaughter her Hunters? Would she even be able to _stop_ it? After all, that beast had had her up against the wall in seconds, when she thought it had been exhausted and unable to stand. Clearly, it was not something to underestimate.

The thought of the beast rampaging scared her, and she burst back out of her tent, nearly barreling into Thalia, who had once more moved to check up on her mistress. As the Lieutenant of the Hunt, that was sort of her job.

Thalia jumped back. "Lady Artemis!?" she cried, surprised by the panicked look on her sister's face.

"I think I've made things worse!" Artemis shouted, much to Thalia's confusion.

"Woah, slow _down_ , my Lady. _What_ are you talking about?"

 _Now_ was when Artemis broke down and told Thalia everything. Well, almost everything. Even in her agitated state, she decided that the daughter of Zeus didn't really _need_ to know about alternate dimensions and random memories, or her possible crush on the spy, who she thought may have been Perseus Jackson, Thalia's cousin… That was a mess and a half.

"Wait… So, that man turned into a _monster_?" Thalia asked slowly, her concern growing rapidly. Artemis nodded fast enough that Thalia thought her head would pop right off. Thankfully, It did not, because the Lieutenant of the Hunt would not have known how to handle that.

"I'm worried about what'll happen if he goes on a rampage! He was able to subdue _me_!" Artemis shrieked, not caring much about _grace_ and _decorum_ at the moment.

Thalia was too shocked to comment on her mistress' lack of composure. "W-what do we do, then? If we can't fight him, then the only choice is make sure we're not around if he comes outside."

"Where are you guys going?" a voice asked from behind Thalia. Both Hunters recognized the speaker as a male, because the voice was much deeper than any female's could (or _should_ ) be. Thalia froze up, and Artemis had to peer around the statue of her taller half-sister to confirm her fears.

It was, indeed, the masked man, though he looked a bit better than earlier. The horn on his left temple had vanished, and his mask was no longer riddled with cracks. He also did not seem to be breathing heavily at all.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Artemis asked cautiously.

"Just came to chat," the spy replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Hey, what's up with Thalia? She hasn't moved in, like, a minute."

The daughter of Zeus jolted once she registered that her name had been said, whirling around to face the spy. Fear was evident on her face, though it quickly morphed into confusion upon seeing that the man was not in the state Artemis had just described. "Uh, nothing! I just had to make my daily report to Lady Artemis- I think I'll go… Take care of business. Yeah, bye!" Thalia rushed off, walking away as quickly as she could without seeming afraid. She failed, but an attempt was made.

Normally, Thalia Grace wasn't scared of anything. She had survived on the streets of America, taken on monsters twice, or even _thrice_ , her size. She had even fought Titans! But, when she finds herself face-to-face with something that subdued _Lady Artemis_ , who is one of the most combat-proficient Olympians- or god in general- like the goddess was nothing, she tends to get a bit nervous. Especially when she was caught s _o_ flat-footed, she didn't even have a weapon out. Besides, tactical retreats were _not_ cowardly!

Artemis glared at her fleeing sister, wishing she could throw something at the girl for a moment, before getting over it. She turned back to the spy, to find him watching Thalia as well.

"Uh… Okay?" he mutters, then looks at Artemis. "Can we go inside? I don't really want anyone overhearing this," he said, gesturing at the tent behind her.

She glanced at it, unsure if she should actually agree with his request. After all, being in close-quarters with him if he freaked out was _not_ a pleasant thought. Then again, it would be better if she was the only one nearby, so he focused on her as opposed to one of her Hunters. With a sigh, she turned around and opened the zipper on her tent. She walked through, the spy only moments behind her.

The inside of Artemis' tent was rather simple; a bed in the corner, with a nightstand next to it. A small chest of drawers stood at the foot of the bed, leaving only a plush armchair at the back of the tent.

This layout was the same used for all the Hunters' tents, and they were free to decorate the remaining space however they saw fit, whether it be with trophies from a hunt, comfort items, or other furniture that they managed to acquire through means Artemis did not question. Due to the magic of the tent, the contents remained the same, even if the tent was packed up and set up elsewhere.

Artemis walked toward the armchair, sitting down heavily. With a wave of her hand, a silverwood chair appeared about five feet in front of her seat.

The spy, for some reason, plopped down on the ground _next_ to the chair, draping the left half of his body over the seat. He sighed heavily, then surprised Artemis by grabbing his mask. She thought he was going to take it off, but instead he merely lifted it slightly, so that his mouth was exposed. He took in a few large mouthfuls of air, before calming down and breathing normally.

"Well? Speak," Artemis commanded, once she got sick of watching the man lounge around on the floor of her tent.

It took a moment, but he finally opened his mouth to do something other than breathe. "Right. Don't take this the wrong way, but what the _fuck_ were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that?" he asked, astoundingly calm despite the content of his question.

Artemis was reluctant to approach the topic, so she danced around it instead. "What, exactly, are you talking about?"

"Don't bullshit me. You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

"I'm afraid I do _not_ ," Artemis replied, continuing to avoid the subject.

With a heavy sigh, the spy stood up, causing Artemis to tense her muscles. She relaxed a bit, however, when he dropped in the wooden chair she had conjured.

"Listen- are you listening?" he asked, as if he were speaking to a child.

When Artemis simply glared at him, he continued, pretending she had nodded. "What you did was bad. _Really_ bad."

"Is there a reason you're treating me like a child!?" Artemis snapped, crossing her arms while strengthening her glare.

"Yes," the masked man replied calmly, "You very nearly made a _huge_ mistake, and you need to know that. And since you wanna _act_ stupid, then that's how I'm gonna treat you. Ya get it?"

Artemis, feeling oddly chastised, let out a sigh. "I suppose. So, you wish to talk about what I did earlier?"

"Yeah. First off, _why_ , exactly, did you walk up in my apartment and start beating on me, when I was so _obviously_ in a bad state?" he asked.

"I…" Artemis began, but hesitated. The spy urged her on with a wave of his hand. The Moon goddess sighed before she continued, "I wanted to put you in your place; pay you back for all your disrespect. I had planned on tearing that mask off, to finally learn your identity."

She could feel the man's piercing gaze, even though his eyes were hidden and the sockets of the mask were dark, for the first time ever. She was an instant away from snapping at him again when he spoke. "Well, as you can see, that didn't work very well. Although… With the state I was in, ripping the mask off would have probably helped," he admitted quietly, causing Artemis to stiffen.

"What _is_ that mask, then, for it to cause such a thing?" Artemis asked, leaning forward slightly.

A long period of silence ensued, in which the spy replaced his mask over his face, and simply stared at the goddess. She could feel those sickly yellow lights peering into her divine essence, rifling through her being, as if judging her.

"Some things are better left secret," the spy finally said, which apparently meant that she was found lacking and he couldn't trust her with the answer. For some reason, the notion made her heart drop.

"Well, will you at least tell me what _that_ was about?" Artemis asked desperately.

" _That_ , was me losing control. Owning this mask comes with some drawbacks- you know that American saying, about no such thing as a free lunch?" The immortal nodded. "Well, it's like that. Normally, it doesn't matter, but what happened last week really threw me off balance, so I wasn't in any position to stop it."

Artemis remembered what he was talking about; it was when he had abruptly kicked her out of his tent, and was shaking like he had hypothermia. It had hurt the goddess, to have it reconfirmed for the thousandth time that the masked man didn't trust her. She didn't bother asking about what had happened. She had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't trust her with the answer to that, either.

Artemis lowered her gaze, not wanting to see those yellow eyes anymore. The two stayed in silence for a long while, the spy slumping backwards to stare at the cloth ceiling of the tent, while Artemis watched the floor.

"Are you upset?"

Artemis jumped, having been lost in aimless thought. She stared at the spy in shock, completely caught off-guard by the question.

"Are you upset?" he asked again, taking her wide eyes as a silent request to repeat the question. He watched as her eyes returned to normal size, then lowered to the floor once more. She seemed to have taken an unusual interest in his shoes- a simple pair of black Timberlands.

When Artemis nodded slowly, almost ashamedly, the spy sighed. He scooted his chair forward, startling Artemis with the noise. The Moon Goddess whipped her head up, only to come face-to-mask with the man, who had gotten extremely close. She yelped, but didn't pull away much.

"Listen," the man began, gently placing a hand on hers, "I'm sorry I have to keep all this secret. Seriously, it sucks, not being able to have a conversation that doesn't involve masks and lies, but there's a reason I do it. The information I hold can't get out to just anyone, or it would end in the death of everyone involved- _even an Olympian_ ," the spy added, to stave off Artemis' token protest. "I would _love_ to tell you, but this is honestly for your own safety. I am playing a _dangerous_ game, Artemis, and I don't want to drag anyone down with me when it all goes to Tartarus."

The goddess nodded slowly, but then stopped halfway. "What do you mean, _when_!?" she asked sharply, fear lacing her voice. The spy squeezed her hand, in a bid to make her calm down. It did not work very well.

"I've caught the attention of some powerful people," the masked man said grimly, "And they are _not_ happy with me. It was inevitable, I suppose… I just wished it hadn't happened so quickly."

"Who-?" Artemis went to ask, but was cut off.

"I can't tell you that. Not yet… One day, everything shall be made clear, and you'll hopefully understand just _why_ I have to deceive everyone around me," the man told her. When Artemis didn't seem completely convinced, he squeezed her hand once more, with a bit more pressure than before.

"I swear it on the River Styx."

* * *

 **Aw, how cute… I think. Was it fluffy and dramatic and romantic? Cuz that's what I was going for. I think ending the chapter on lines like that helps me write so fast, because if there's a cliffhanger, then I have a definite place to continue from. It helps, I recommend trying it if you're a writer. K bai :D**


	13. Chapter 13

Artemis did not even register the clap of thunder, so great was her surprise.

"Wha- Why-!?" she choked out, then inhaled deeply to calm herself. She exhaled just as loudly, and smiled serenely, looking truly relaxed. Until she buried a fist in the masked man's stomach, faster than he could register. Due to her godly strength, he ended up hunched over, wheezing as all the air was forced out of his lungs.

"Are you an _idiot_!?" she shouted, slapping him on the back of his lowered head for good measure. " _Why_ in the name of Hades would you do something so _stupid_!?"

"It ain't stupid if it's true…" the spy muttered, trying to get some air back into his abused body.

"How would _you_ know!? Didn't you _just_ say that everything was going wrong, and very quickly!? Something could happen to you at any time!"

"Well," the man said, sitting up straight, "I _did_. But I meant from _your_ point of view. It'll happen within the next couple of months, maybe years if I'm lucky, but that's like the blink of an eye for you. _I_ have plenty of time to tie up some loose ends," he finished calmly.

Artemis growled, and the man knew he had said the wrong thing. He held his hands to protect his masked face, but that did nothing to stop the brutal kick that slammed into his shin which was a particularly sensitive spot, for some odd reason.

"Fuck!" he cried, leaping backwards. Unfortunately for him, he was still sitting, so his leg caught on the chair, bringing both man and seat down, _hard_. With a yelp, his head hit the ground, and he began to crawl backwards.

Truly pissed off now, Artemis stepped forward and picked up the chair like it weighed nothing. She chucked it at the spy, feeling satisfied in the way it broke against the arms he had thrown up to block it. The goddess stalked forward, like a deadly predator, moments away from pouncing on her vulnerable prey, who still had his arms in front of him.

Fortunately for him, the zipper for the tent opened, and Thalia Grace walked in. She very nearly walked right back out upon seeing the position the two were in, but Artemis managed to recollect herself,

"Thalia, what do you need?" the immortal asked, barely restraining herself, forcing a smile onto her face. It came out more like a grimace.

Thalia hesitated to speak. "Oh, I, uh, just heard yelling and loud noises, so I got worried. If you're busy, I can go…?"

Artemis nodded, eyeing the spy with a malicious smirk. "Yes, I believe that would be the best for now. Since you have already given me the daily report, I will see you tomorrow."

Thalia nodded back, eyeing the spy sympathetically, and closed the zipper of the tent, disappearing behind the cloth. Artemis turned a feral glare on the cowering spy, who hadn't thought to get up during the interruption.

"Now, where were we?"

"Uh...You were totally _not_ about to beat my ass?" the spy replied hopefully.

"Hmm… Nope!" Artemis said, crushing those hopes. She leapt forward, causing the spy to scream in a very high-pitched tone. Artemis, caught off-guard, was overwhelmed by amusement. No longer in any shape to beat on the defenseless man, she landed on him, laughing hard. She was completely unaware of the fact that she was in a potentially compromising position, straddling him. He was in no hurry to point it out, and possibly lose something.

Artemis laughed and chuckled and even snorted for a good few minutes, until she was drained. She ended up lying down on the spy's chest, aware of what she was doing, but completely uncaring. She was a bit too busy listening to his strong, if erratic, heartbeat (which was probably her fault for scaring him). After a moment, she pushed herself into a sitting position, keeping her palms against the man's admittedly solid chest to support herself.

"Are you feelin' me up?" he asked, both stunned and amused at the same time.

Artemis blushed, gold spreading across her cheeks, but she stubbornly did not let her embarrassment get the best of her. "And what if I am?" she asked dangerously, digging her fingers into his pectorals to emphasize her point.

"Oh…" was all the spy said, shocked into stupidity. "Well, I guess I won't do anything, because I like to be in one piece… But aren't you a maiden goddess? Meaning, no guys?"

" _Yes_. However, I'm not sure if you're a man anymore. Did you _hear_ how you screamed just now?" Artemis asked, and began to chuckle once more.

"Hey!" the masked man cried, "That was driven purely by fear! People don't care how they sound when they think they're about to _die_!" he complained, pushing himself into a sitting position, with his hands pressing against the tent floor behind him. The two were now almost at an equal height, considering Artemis' small size. She was sitting in the valley between the spy's raised knees and upright torso.

They stayed silent, simply looking at each other, silver orbs piercing glowing yellow holes. Slowly, Artemis reached up, running her fingers along the mask, feeling the jagged edges of the oddly-shaped teeth. The previously humorous mood seemed to have become rather somber.

"Can you at least tell me what this mask is made of?" she asked quietly. She sounded dejected, as if she didn't expect an answer to even this simple question.

"I would if I could," was the short reply. Artemis sighed, now tracing the spy's jaw with slow, creeping fingers.

"Is this another thing that's _too dangerous_ for me to know?" Artemis asked sullenly.

"Hey now, don't be like that. I actually can't answer that one, because I don't know myself. I _think_ it's bone, but have you _seen_ how I make it? Weird stuff."

Artemis thought back, remembering the red-tinged black flames which somehow became this bone-white mask, and was forced to agree with him; it _was_ weird.

"Fine, I suppose I'll let you get away with that one…" she teased, causing the spy to snicker a bit. He stopped when Artemis placed her hand on both sides of his head.

Curious, he allowed the goddess to trace the frame of his mask, which was fairly close to the shape of his face. He did not protest when she began to slip her fingers under the edges, sliding them around the perimeter. He did not twitch when the mask, ever-so-slowly, lost contact with his face, instead closing his eyes. He did, however, pause, when Artemis sighed.

The goddess did another thing that surprised him; she set the mask back in place. He opened his eyes in shock. He had been ready for her to rip the cover away from him, revealing his identity at long last, regardless of his own wishes. Better she did it gently now, than later, by trying to break it off, probably smashing his skull in the process.

"What…?" the man uttered, astounded.

A thin smile graced Artemis' lips. "I wanted to. I _really_ wanted to. But… You said you would tell me eventually. So I will wait. Just… Don't keep me waiting forever, please?" Artemis pleaded, once more amazing the spy.

He stared at her for a few more moments, then sighed quietly. He leaned forward, resting his head against Artemis' shoulder. "Yeah. I'll definitely tell you, soon. Trust me."

"I will," Artemis replied, bringing her hands up to stroke the spy's shoulder-length hair. It was quite silky, and had an appealing scent- that of the forest (probably because he'd been living in the forest), and a hint of sea salt. She pushed his head off her, so she could look him in the eyes. "However, in the meantime, I want a name."

"...I can't right now. It'll give too much-"

"That's not what I meant," Artemis interrupted, "I need _something_ to call you, as opposed to _spy_. Unless you prefer that...?"

"No, no. You make a good point," the masked man replied, laughing slightly. He tilted his head back, staring the ceiling. "Name, name... " he muttered, which tickled Artemis for some odd reason.

"Aha!" he cried, snapping his head back up. The goddess flinched in surprise. "Sorry, but it just came to me suddenly. You can call me Ghost."  
Artemis pondered it for a moment, before smirking at him. "You are _such_ a male, giving yourself a name you think is _so_ … What's the word… Ah, yes, _awesome_."

"No," the man replied, sounding quite offended, "It's actually one of my names. Or, titles, I guess, if you wanna be specific. The 'Ghost of the Bloody Mist', they called me. And I'm totally telling Apollo you said awesome."

"You will not!" Artemis cried, slapping him on the shoulder, "And why would _anyone_ call you that?"

The newly-named Ghost was silent for a moment, worrying Artemis. Finally, when she was beginning to get extremely anxious, he spoke up. "I know that you're an Olympian Goddess, and you've been around… A while."

Artemis scoffed. "A _while_ is an understatement. Try over _three millennia_ ," she said proudly.

"Yeah, so, a while," Ghost continued. "You've definitely seen some… _Unpleasant_ things. But, trust me when I say this, you do _not_ want to know why I am called that. That is nightmare fuel for people who are unaware of true Hell."

Artemis was unsure whether to feel indignant or nervous. After a moment's thought, she went with the former, just to see what happened. "You think I have not seen true Hell?" she asked, raising her chin slightly.

Ghost stared at her once more, making her shift uncomfortably. "Have you ever been to Tartarus?" he asked quietly.

Artemis was stunned. For some reason, she had never thought of the possibility. "N-no! Are you saying…?" she trailed off, unable to get the words out, fearful of the response.

A solemn nod was the answer to her unasked question. "I came back to find thirty mortal days had passed, which is a helluva lot longer _down there_. I'm still not sure of the time dilation, but the best I can figure is that I spent about a year down there, which is honestly _not_ that bad."

"What do you mean, _not that bad_!?" Artemis shouted, causing Ghost to lean back slightly. "Only Giants, TItans, and monsters can thrive down there- unless you're saying you fit in one of those categories?" she asked, accusingly.

"And what if I did?" Ghost replied sharply, throwing Artemis slightly.

"Well, there's nothing _wrong_ with it, but I would have to report it to my father-"

"No, you don't. All that would succeed in doing is pissing him off, which is not good for any of us. Do you like listening to him bitch all the time about traitors and threats to Olympus?"

"Well, no, but-" Artemis began, but was once more cut off.

"Besides, there's nothing to tell, anyways. I'm a demigod."

Artemis gaped at him, lips opening and closing, as if she were trying to speak, but could not find the right words. Ghost laughed, reaching up to push her jaw shut.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies."

A bit startled by the teasing, she swatted at the offending limb, pushing it off her jaw. Once her ability to speak was back, she asked, "How did you survive?"

"Because, I'm… What was that word you used? Oh, right. _Awesome_."

"Do _not_ tell Apollo!" Artemis yelled, hitting Ghost in the shoulder for good measure.

"Fi~ne," he groaned, tossing his head about in protest. Artemis spluttered and spat when his hair repeatedly slapped her in the face.

"Stop!" she cried, grabbing a handful of his hair, and yanking it hard.

"Ow!"

"This is payback!"

"No, it's just you being mean!"

Instead of verbally responding, Artemis began to pull harder.

"Stop! You'll rip it off!"

"That's the point, fool!"

Finally, Ghost wisened up, and grabbed Artemis' wrists. She fought valiantly, but he had an iron grip, so she eventually gave up. The two stared at each other, breathing heavily, then they both eventually broke down laughing. They hunched over, their foreheads bumping together lightly, and they rested like that for a moment. Ghost did not relinquish his hold of the goddess' hands, just to be safe.

"You wanna go play video games?" he asked suddenly. Artemis took a moment to register his question, then agreed.

After a moment of silence, Ghost said, "You know, you need to get up if we're going to go…"

Artemis realized that, but then stubbornly refused to do so, just to irritate him. She even made a scene of dropping her entire body weight against him, resting on his chest. She giggled when he sighed in aggravation, but stopped when he began to move. Confused, she nearly shrieked as he _leapt_ to his feet, causing her to pitch backwards and land on the ground. Ghost was laughing loudly now, hunching forwards slightly.

"That's what you get for trying to annoy me!" he told her, pointing at the grounded goddess. When her eyes narrowed into a sharp glare, he froze. Ghost turned around, yanked on the tent's entrance zipper, and bolted through the opening. Artemis followed, not a second later. They ran the whole way to Ghost's tent, the man screaming every time he glanced back to find the Moon Goddess gaining on him. Upon reaching the tent, Ghost managed to time his entrance perfectly, so that he opened the door while losing minimal speed. The door slammed into the wall extremely hard, and Ghost made a mental note to check later for any dents or holes.

The masked man blazed through his small apartment, then dived over the entire couch, hiding behind the armrest. He stayed there for a few seconds, controlling his breathing and listening for any signs of his impending doom. He heard the front door click closed, then a floorboard creaked, indicating that Artemis had entered and was walking down the front hallway.

Ghost waited a few moments in that unnerving silence, then took a risk by peering over the side the couch. He came face-to-mask with Artemis, who was sitting on the couch.

"Boo."

Surprised, the man shot backwards with a small shriek, and Artemis broke down laughing. She was soon gasping for air and beating the armrest she was leaning against. Thankfully, she did not utilize her godly strength, or the poor couch would have been in smithereens.

Ghost laid a hand over his heart, breathing a bit heavily, both from the intense chase and almost having a heart attack. "Ha… Ha. Very funny," he wheezed out, crawling to his feet. He didn't take his eyes off Artemis, just in case she tried something. When the goddess kept laughing without a care in the world, he relaxed a bit. "So, are you done trying to attack me?" he asked, warily.

Artemis finally looked up, tears in her silver eyes, and she nodded. She took a deep breath to refill her lungs, then swiped at her eyes. "Oh, it's been _so_ long since I've laughed like that," she muttered.

Ghost smiled behind his mask; it was nice to know that she enjoyed being around him. He turned to the bookshelf holding his excessive amount of games, searching for one that supported multiplayer. It took a few minutes, but he finally found one; Little Big Planet 3, which looked absolutely adorable. He also grabbed the extra controller on top the bookshelf.

A short while later, Percy and Artemis were sitting comfortably next to each other on the couch, watching the opening cutscene for the game, each clutching their own remote. Artemis took a few minutes to memorize the location of each button, then the function of each button. Ghost, as an experience gamer, found it hilarious, and made that fact known by laughing at the goddess' struggles.

Ghost was also being decidedly unhelpful, making his in-game character slap around Artemis' so that she could not do anything. She eventually got so aggravated that she tossed her controller onto the coffee table and began beating on the non-virtual Ghost. He made a weak attempt at defending himself, but both were rather tired, so the scuffle ended quickly.

Artemis picked her controller up once more, and the two played the game for hours into the night.

* * *

"Herfgh?" a raspy, bass-heavy voice mumbled, as the owner was startled awake by nothing in particular. Ghost sat up slowly, attempting, and failing, to not aggravate his aching body. Sleeping on the couch, especially while sitting up, had not been kind to him.

It was funny, in a way. Sure, torture the masked man, flay his skin slowly, grind his bones to dust, take a stab or two at him with a sharp object, and you _might_ get a groan. It may even be an audible one, if you're lucky. But force him to sleep in an odd position? He'll cry like a little bitch.

Ghost, groggy as all Hades, examined his surroundings with sleepy eyes. He was… In his living room, and the ceiling light was off, so… Where was the blue light coming from? Oh, right, he had fallen asleep playing games. The TV screen flashed with a warning that the Dualshock controllers had been disconnected due to low battery, and the game in the background had been automatically paused. The controllers were nowhere to be seen, so he didn't worry about it (they fell onto the ground, but were luckily undamaged).

Something shifted on the couch next to him, causing the soft material to crinkle. Glancing down, Ghost saw a woman, who seemed to be… Maybe eighteen? Probably younger, but that seemed like a good guess. She had auburn hair, and was wearing a silver t-shirt, silver joggers, and even silver socks. She, like him, fell asleep sitting up.

"Ergph?" the man muttered, which roughly translated to; "Who the fuck?"

Oh, right, he had been playing video games with Artemis. They must've fallen asleep. But didn't she have her own tent? So why didn't she sleep there?

Ghost picked up a nearly-unresponsive arm, and sent it in the direction of the sleeping goddess. It ended up landing on her head, which had tilted backwards to face the ceiling (the back of the couch was very low). Not really caring, or understanding, Ghost began to shake her face.

Artemis woke up quickly, mostly alert right off the bat, ignoring her tight muscles. All she knew was that there was a hand covering most of her vision, so she immediately jumped up, summoning a hunting knife in a small flash of light. Dropping into a combat stance, she relaxed once she noticed it had been Ghost, who was now simply staring at his dropped hand.

Slowly, Ghost's head swivelled to the standing goddess, and grunted at her. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and watched as Ghost fell over and stretched across the whole sofa, now that there was space. A smile stretched across her lips, and she giggled quietly.

Ghost, who had been an instant away from falling back asleep, heard. His thankfully still-masked face tilted up at her, bleary yellow eyes seeing nothing more than a silver blur. A hand flopped over the side of the couch, and with a little more effort, reached out to Artemis, who took a hold of it curiously. Ghost grunted something unintelligible, then pulled on her. Getting the message, Artemis came closer. Still, Ghost pulled.

The Moon Goddess blushed once she realized what the sleepy man wanted. With the only source of light behind her, and the only viewer functioning at zombie levels, nobody would ever know. However, Artemis herself was acutely aware of how hot her face grew, as she hesitantly laid down next to Ghost. When the man wrapped a tired arm around her and pulled her even closer, she thought her head would explode in an eruption of ichor.

Fortunately, Ghost's breathing levelled out within seconds, indicating that he had fallen asleep. Of course, with the state she was in, it was absolutely impossible for her to follow suit. So, she simply laid there, basking in the heat given off by the man whose chest she was pressed up against.

With nothing else to do, Artemis turned to her thoughts. How had she ended up in this situation...? It started with her volunteering to contain the spy, because… Her Hunters needed target practice? That wasn't really true, since her girls hadn't really shot at him that much. Sure, they chased him down in the name of tracking practice, but that was really because they were trying to terrorize him, and he was, understandably, running for his life. Apparently, Louise, daughter of Ares, had shot him once, but she refused to speak of it anymore for fear that Ghost would track her down to collect the money she now owed him. Money she didn't have. That would probably turn into a scene from a mafia/gangster movie.

So why _had_ Artemis volunteered to watch over him? Was it because, even back then, during that short interaction, she had recognized his mannerisms and how similar they were to Perseus Jackson? Had she been so subconsciously desperate to see the son of Poseidon again, that she pulled a stunt like that? It made an unpleasant amount of sense, since Artemis had gotten those foreign memories about a month before the Winter Solstice Assembly- speaking of which, how had that turned out…? Oh well, it wasn't really _that_ important. If it concerned her, Zeus would have called her back to Mount Olympus.

Maybe she took responsibility for Ghost because she wanted to be cruel to him, and provide her girls with some form of entertainment… Yeah, that made _much_ more sense! She had just passed it off as target practice to seem _slightly_ more humane, even though everyone present knew the truth. And then… Things happened, that most definitely _were not_ Artemis' fault, that changed her opinion of the spy. It was not the spy's fault, either, so she couldn't take it out on him (not that she particularly wanted to).

Yes, it was all completely out of her control, but Artemis, in all her wisdom, had decided to make the best of a bad situation by simply going with the flow. Fighting against it would have taken too much energy, and could have been potentially dangerous for her Hunters.

Artemis nodded to herself, but stopped suddenly. During her mental, one-sided argument, she had somehow forgotten about the very situation she was thinking about, managing to disassociate herself from it temporarily. As such, she ended up rubbing her face against Ghost's muscular chest, causing her to once more erupt into a brilliant golden blush.

She tried to pull away out of embarrassment, but the man's grip suddenly tightened. Sure, she could still escape, if she exerted some of her divine strength, but that would probably wake Ghost, which would be rude. She was, after all, in _his_ house/apartment/tent… _Place_.

Besides, who would find out if Artemis spent the night pressed up against him a bit more closely than she needed to be?

The Moon Goddess fell asleep soon, surrounded by Ghost's arms, a smile on her lips and a golden blush on her face.

* * *

 **Alright, here's what I'm gonna do; I kind of think that Artemis and Ghost are getting too close, too fast, so I want people to tell me if I'm right. I'm suspending work on this story for a week, so everyone who wants can tell me what they think, via review. If less than ten people tell me I need to slow things down between, then Imma just keep going as I have been. If I get** _ **more**_ **than ten people telling me it's bad, then I'll rewrite this chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

Percy woke up to an aching body. He tried to roll sideways, to get into a more comfortable position, but was stopped by a wall of cushion. Glancing at it, he recognized the brown material of his couch.

"So, I fell asleep here? No wonder I feel like shit..." he muttered, then attempted to sit up. Key word; _attempted_. He felt something pulling down on his stomach, like one of those safety bars on a roller coaster. The demigod was pretty sure his couch hadn't been transformed into a roller coaster seat overnight, so he was rightly confused. Glancing down, he saw a pale… _Thing._ It was just long enough to span his width, and quite thin… Oh, it was an _arm_.

Now even more confused than before, the man trailed his gaze up the pale arm, which transitioned into a silver sleeve that began midway between the elbow and shoulder. Turning his head the rest of the way at once, Percy laid eyes on the sleeping Artemis, auburn hair hanging off the couch and silver eyes closed. However, they were twitching.

Then they opened.

Percy had to stifle a girlish scream as he brought his hand up to his face. His mask had, at some point during the night, broken off, leaving him bare-faced, something he fixed quickly. Just in time, too, because the last spark of black flames had vanished by the time Artemis began to actually register anything her eyes saw.

That crisis averted, he relaxed marginally. Then, the reality of the situation kicked in, and the demigod very nearly had a heart attack. As it was, his heart simply skipped a beat, but that was still plenty scary.

"H-Hi," Percy said, cursing the way his tongue spasmed. He could hide his facial expressions behind a bone-white mask, but there was little point if his words came out shaky.

Artemis replied by tugging the man back down onto the couch, snuggling into his chest. A chest that was now slowly growing cold, because his heart had actually stopped beating this time.

' _What the actual fuck!? Is this really happening!? Is she gonna kill me when she gets up!? Am I gonna die!? I'll definitely die! Definitely! FUCK!'_

Apparently, Artemis had noticed her pillow's drop in body temperature, because she cracked her eyes open. "Why are you so cold all of a sudden?" she asked drowsily.

"Because, it's time for you to get up," Percy replied, and nearly bit his tongue off once he realised what he said. He did _not_ want her to wake up, because then she would see the position they were in, and _beat his ass_!

Unfortunately, Artemis was completely unaware of his inner turmoil. She yawned, muttered, "Fine," and stood up from the couch, the soft material crinkling with her every movement.

Percy immediately noticed the lack of warmth in the parts of him that Artemis was cuddling with, but he ignored it. Living through the next five minutes took priority.

"So… What are ya doin' here?" he asked casually.

"If I remember correctly, _you_ were the one that invited me over to play video games. So what's the issue?"

Percy swallowed quitely, bracing himself. "Yeah, I invited ya to _play games_ , not have a sleepover."

Artemis opened her mouth to respond, but then froze in shock once the man's words had registered in her still-awakening divine brain. She slowly turned her head to the couch, which had a vaguely Artemis-shaped impression stuck in the cushions, right next to the Percy-shaped impression, which the man was still occupying. Her cheeks erupted with a golden blush, and she suddenly found the wooden floor very interesting.

"So, do you want breakfast, or…?" Percy asked, determined to not let her see how nervous he was. Even if that meant keeping her around longer (which did not sound that bad).

Rather than reply, the goddess turned and walked straight out of the apartment, almost in a daze. Once he had heard the door click, every muscle in Percy's body unclenched, and he slumped back onto the couch.

"Holy. Fucking. _Shit_."

He spent a few minutes like that, just marvelling at the fact that he was still alive, and not a red paste on his floor. Soon, though, his thoughts turned toward the Moon Goddess. Sure, it felt nice to lay next to her, but he was a guy! Of course it would be nice!

However, he couldn't quite ignore the ache in his chest. He knew it was caused by the sudden loss of the goddess' presence, but he would be damned if he admitted it! It had to be heartburn!

Percy's mind slowly drifted towards thoughts of emotional pain. It had been a while since he had felt anything of the sort- it was usually just physical pain. The last time had been… Years ago? The man wasn't quite sure. It felt like it had been much longer…

If he remembered correctly, it was about a month into his spiritual imprisonment in that parallel world. He hadn't woken up, so much as come out of the trance which replaced sleep. But, he had 'awoken' in the Poseidon Cabin, in his old bunk, which was the start of his problems. Being in such a familiar place, Percy couldn't help but fall back into his old routine; wake up, brush his teeth, shower, and head for the mess hall. Everything seemed fine- he had even touched the toothbrush, and everything!

Unfortunately, the illusion of normality, the illusion that the past month in the other world had just been a really weird dream, was shattered when he greeted the first person he saw.

"Hey, Leo! What's up?" he had called to the impish son of Hephaestus, who simply continued walking without even a glance in his direction. Confused, Percy walked alongside Leo for a little, following the younger boy to the mess hall. They parted ways, heading for their respective tables, Percy was slightly upset that his friend had ignored him, but knew that Leo could get like that sometimes when he was mentally blueprinting his next invention.

Of course, Percy realized the truth when he walked straight _through_ another camper, moments after turning away from the fire-user. That was when reality came crashing back in, and a hole was blown into his heart, large enough to swallow the Earth whole.

It had been a cruel trick of the Fates, letting him think he was back home, when he was still stuck in this backwards world. That incident caused Percy to harden his heart, wary of the deceitful ways of those old hags. He was determined not to be hurt by them again.

Unfortunately, it seemed he had failed in the endeavor, if the pang of loss when Artemis left was anything to go by.

Percy recognized the symptoms of a forming crush, since he had gone through it with Annabeth; wanting to be near that person all the time, the loneliness when they were gone, the urge to be in contact with them (whether it be by cuddling or fighting), the odd way you acted around them- all of it, Percy saw and recognized. And it pissed him the fuck off.

He was _not_ here to hook up with anyone! Much less the Maiden Goddess herself! It wouldn't make sense to even _try_ forming a relationship with her, since he would be gone before it could ever happen- _if_ it happened. It would take years, maybe _decades_ , to break through Artemis' man-hating exterior. Time he did not have.

Then again, what about yesterday? They had been pretty close, and in such a compromising position (imagine if one of the Hunters had walked in on that). They had spoken gently to one another, making promises and swears, caressing and hugging. It was like they were _already_ lovers.

Of course, Percy knew that was impossible. Regardless of his rapidly-developing feelings- _feelings that shouldn't exist in the first place_ \- Artemis was a maiden goddess, who was also the leader of an entire group of anti-male ladies. There was no _way_ she actually felt _that way_ about him! There had to be some explanation…

Answers. She was doing it for answers, Percy realized. She probably couldn't stand not knowing so much, felt it an insult to her godly pride or something dumb, and decided to use underhanded tactics to get what she wanted.

Well, she got it. Percy had sworn an oath on the River Styx, like the fool he was. He wasn't a god, able to break those oaths as he pleased, so he was stuck now. Didn't mean he had to be happy about it. It also did not mean he had to do anything with these feelings. All Percy had to do was wait out storm, and all would soon be fine. Artemis would get her answers, Percy's feelings would fade, and then they would go their separate ways; her, off to kill whatever monster she pleased with her Hunters, and him… Well, who knew but the Fates?

Percy peeled his mask off his face, turning it over to examine the demonic appearance. There was a reason he hid behind a mask; it was a security blanket, a wall between him and everyone else. It was a quick, easy way to throw them all off their game, silently tell them that he would keep them all at arm's length. After all, how could you form anything more than a tentative friendship with someone who didn't even trust you enough to show you his face?

Yes, there was a reason he wore this mask, and it was time to remember that.

* * *

Artemis was dazed. She had just woken up, _next to a male,_ for the first time in her immortal life. Which was pretty long, by the way- over three thousand years.

It was completely unexpected, something she never thought possible. Something Artemis, the maiden goddess, should have _never_ done. And yet, despite how unlike her it was, it had been… Pleasant.

Ghost had been comfortably warm- not too warm, which would cause her to shy away, and also not too cold, forcing her to shiver through the night. It was perfect. Except for that little bit this morning, where his body temperature had dropped drastically, but she simply chalked it up to one of his unknown abilities.

Even so, it was embarrassing. Falling asleep had been hard enough, but waking up was mortifying. Especially with how casual the man had been- asking her if she wanted breakfast, of all things! It was as if he was used to that sort of thing… Which, astoundingly, hurt Artemis. Just a little bit… Okay, maybe a lot.

She didn't know _why_ , but the thought of Ghost waking up next to somebody else stirred feelings in her that she hadn't known existed, which was ridiculous. She recognized the foreign emotion as jealousy, which was stupid. Why would she get jealous over something that insignificant? He was his own person, and he could do what he wanted! If he wanted to sleep around like some man-whore, then who was she to complain?

Artemis sighed, slightly irritated. Her thoughts were a mess now, thanks to that infuriating man, and yet she couldn't find it in herself to be angry at him. Annoyed? Yes. But anger, and hatred by extension, was beyond her.

Maybe Aphrodite had influenced her, Artemis wondered. Then again, the Love Goddess had sworn dozens upon dozens of oaths over the centuries to not interfere in the affairs of Artemis and her Hunters, so that wasn't really possible. Besides, Aphrodite had long since given up trying to corrupt the Huntresses, and the two had fallen into an amicable relationship. At least, as amicable as it could be when they only really talked about once a decade.

Maybe she should visit…? Just to _confirm_ Aphrodite wasn't messing with her? Sure, it would reveal that she had a crush on someone, but Aphrodite, despite common belief, was not an uncontrollable gossip. She knew discretion, and would not tell anyone anything if someone asked her not to. Besides, Aphrodite made very good tea, and it would be nice to catch up. A lot could happen in a decade, even if one was a goddess.

Mind made up, Artemis sought out her Lieutenant.

"Thalia, I am going to Olympus to speak to some of the other gods, and find out what happened at the Winter Solstice Assembly after I left. If anything happens, pray to me, and I shall return."

The younger daughter of Zeus nodded, mock-saluting her sister, causing the goddess to smirk fondly at her. Thalia jogged to back to the archery range, where she had been keeping her skills sharp.

Artemis vanished in a flash of light. She had a Love Goddess to talk to.

* * *

 **Yes, I** _ **know**_ **that it's been only two days, but I was going stir-crazy. I don't want to work on any of my other stories, every time I try, my mind just blanks. My willpower is weak :P**

 **Hopefully, this new chapter can fix what I did in the last one, since I don't really feel like rewriting it. K bai :D**


	15. Chapter 15

Aphrodite's palace on Olympus was not notable for its extravagant size, numerous statues of the goddess herself, or even the gorgeous, perfectly-maintained garden that ran along the pathways. Those were all standard for Olympian palaces. No, what made the Love Goddess' abode stand out was the sheer amount of _pink_.

The walls, the floors, the ceilings- Hades, even the _windows_ were tinted pink! It was honestly an eyesore, and probably one of the reasons Artemis did not meet with Aphrodite on Olympus, instead choosing to get together down in the mortal world.

Unfortunately, it was one of the few palaces spared during the Second Titan War, since it was not anywhere _near_ the path to the Throne Room. Therefore, the Architect of Olympus, Annabeth Chase, could not do anything about it. It was a shame; the daughter of Athena had done good work on Artemis' own palace. Maybe she could have done something about all this blasted pink…

Artemis knocked on the front door of the palace, which was the size of a normal mortal door. It looked out of place, compared to the size of the building. It was also pink.

The door opened a few minutes later, and Aphrodite poked her head out curiously.

"Oh, Artemis!" she squealed, opening the door all way, revealing her state of half-dress. She stepped forward and wrapped the maiden goddess in a hug, which Artemis returned. "Are you here to chat?"

When she nodded, Aphrodite stepped aside, enthusiastically gesturing for her to enter.

"Sorry I look like this- you caught me at a bad time," Aphrodite apologized. She knew how Artemis felt about her constant escapades with men, but the two had reached a mutual understanding of the situation; don't talk about it. That only led to arguments, which neither particularly liked.

"No, I suppose it's my fault. I _did_ show up unannounced," Artemis replied, following Aphrodite through the winding pink halls. They ended up in a quaint sitting room, with an ornate coffee table, and two heart-shaped loveseats on opposite sides of the table. With a snap of her finger, Aphrodite had fixed her clothes into something more appropriate for a casual meeting between girlfriends; simple blue jeans and a low-cut pink blouse. She had taken in Artemis' state of dress when choosing her new outfit, since she didn't want the other goddess to feel underdressed or anything. With a wave of her hand, sweets and baked snacks covered the table, as well as a tray with a kettle and an assortment of tea leaves.

"Help yourself, hon. Any preference on tea?" Aphrodite asked when the two sat down across from each other.

"...I think I'll try Oolong," Artemis said slowly.

Aphrodite fixed her with a pitying gaze. "Apollo?"

"Yes! He will not shut _up_ about Japan! Does he think his stupid haikus honestly sound good!? Artemis exploded, then calmed down and blushed slightly. Aphrodite giggled, a melodious sound.

"I wonder what he'll say if I tell him about this…?" Aphrodite teased, amused by the way Artemis' face contorted into a disgusted sneer,

"Tell him if you want, but warn him, too- if he _ever_ bugs me about it, I'll hurt him."

"Of _course_ , honey! I know the drill by now, don't worry," Aphrodite said, waving her hand dismissively. She decided it probably wasn't a good idea to tell Artemis that she had just been in bed with the Sun God himself when she dropped by. "So, what brings you here?"

"Well, certainly not your palace. Seriously, why don't you just stage a little accident, and have Athena's daughter remodel it?"

Aphrodite stuck her tongue out, and brought her legs up to tuck them under her daintily. "That was a _phase_ , Artemis. Remember when _you_ had an obsession with silver? I swear, any werewolf that snuck up on you while you were eating would've gotten the surprise of their life when they got murdered with a spoon…"

Artemis ignored the jab. "I could help- just say that you tried to mess with one of my Hunters, and I went ballistic and destroyed your palace. Simple, _and_ I get the added bonus of levelling this place."

"Wow, you _really_ hate my house. Should I feel offended?" Aphrodite asked mockingly, and Artemis grinned.

"Yes. _So_ offended, in fact, that you tried to make one of my girls fall in love, causing me to destroy your palace as revenge."

"Okay, you're actually starting to scare me a bit with how hung up you are on this…" Aphrodite said warily.

"It's a good plan- one worthy of the owl herself!" Artemis replied petulantly, and the goddesses broke down in giggles.

Once Aphrodite pulled herself together, she put on her serious face. "Okay, seriously, Artemis, what's wrong? You normally aren't the one to come to me."

Artemis sighed, slightly dreading the upcoming conversation. "Well…" she muttered, then stopped.

"Well?" Aphrodite repeated, prompting her to continue.

" _Well_ , do you remember the Winter Solstice Assembly?"

"You mean this last one, when Apollo ran out of the throne room crying like a bitch?"

"Wait, _what_?"

"...Oh, _right_ , you weren't _there_ on the second day. Do you mean when that spy showed up and called Hades a bitch? I thought he was going to vaporize him on the spot, which would have been a shame, since that man looked _built_..." Aphrodite licked her lips, causing a shiver to go down Artemis' spine. It was always creepy, to her, whenever Aphrodite did that. It may have drove many a man crazy, but she was not a man.

"Yes, this is… About him," Artemis admitted, with some difficulty.

Aphrodite gasped, a reaction Artemis did not find very surprising. "I just remembered! DIdn't you volunteer to watch over him?" The Moon Goddess nodded, causing Aphrodite to squeal. Artemis flinched away due to the volume and pitch of the sound. "Does little Arty have a crush!?" Aphrodite shouted, and Artemis blushed. The coloring of her cheeks served to answer the Love Goddess' question.

"Oh my gosh, she does!" Aphrodite cried, and began to clap excitedly. "So, how did this happen!? It's not every day that one of the virgin goddesses falls in love!"

"...What about Athena?" Artemis asked, trying to take the attention off herself for a moment.

"Hon, you and I _both_ know she doesn't count. Especially not with all the time she spends around Poseidon these days…" Aphrodite muttered. Artemis was forced to agree- those two seemed to be particularly close recently, which was odd considering their three-thousand-year-long rivalry.

" _Anyways_ , back to you!" Aphrodite exclaimed, "What's going on with this mysterious man?"

"W-well…" Artemis began slowly, taken aback by Aphrodite's extreme enthusiasm, "First things first, I just want to confirm that you didn't do _anything_. I know you probably didn't, but it never hurts to check, right?"

Aphrodite gasped, laying a hand over her heart. "I'm _hurt_ , Arty. How could you accuse me of such a thing!?" the Love Goddess cried, sniffling for dramatic effect. Artemis rolled her eyes, not falling for it. Aphrodite saw, and dropped her act. "Gosh, you can't play along? Anyways, I didn't do anything."

Artemis nodded, not really expecting a different answer. Not with how surprised Aphrodite had been moments ago. "Alright, so… I've spending a... Fair bit of time, with him, and we've had a lot of fun-"

" _Fun!?_ " the pink goddess shouted, interrupting her. The way she said it caused Artemis to blush heavily.

"I don't mean like _that_!" the maiden yelled back, "We just get along well! Like, talking, and teasing each other, and playing video games, and…" Artemis stopped, suddenly unable to look Aphrodite in the eye. Said goddess noticed instantly, and very nearly jumped the table to shake the answers out of her friend. Fortunately, she was a graceful lady, and simply leaned forward in anticipation.

" _And_?" she prompted, when Artemis was silent for a long moment. The younger immortal seemed to be struggling to find the right words.

"I… May or may not have… Slept with him…"

Aphrodite, elegant as she was, could not stop herself from choking on her saliva and falling face-first onto the floor. She popped her head up over the table a moment later.

" _What!?"_ the Love Goddess shrieked, probably loud enough for all of Olympus to hear. Artemis flinched back, then realized her mistake.

"Wait! I didn't mean it that way! I just slept _next_ to him!" she cried, rushing her words out so Aphrodite couldn't interrupt.

The floored goddess laid a hand over her heart again, but this time she was actually checking to see if her divine heart was still beating properly. She swallowed heavily, then exhaled slowly, rising from the pink carpet. Her legs were somewhat shaky from shock.

"O-kay...Okay…" she muttered, repositioning herself on her seat. Finally, she came out of her stupor. "Lead with _that_ next time!" Aphrodite snapped, "I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sorry! I don't know why it came out like that!" Artemis replied, slightly panicked.

"Ugh…" Aphrodite groaned, "Why do you have to be so _difficult_ , Arty? First you refuse to have anything to do with my domain for three _thousand_ years, then suddenly you're trying to make me have a stroke by saying things like _that_!"

"Sorry," Artemis said again, feeling slightly bad for the state she put her friend in. "I really didn't mean to say it that way…"

The Love Goddess sighed. "It's fine, hon. Just… Try not to do it again. So, how'd you end up in that fine mess?"

"Well, we were playing video games, like I mentioned, and we just… Fell asleep. We woke up in the middle of the night, and he moved us around so we were laying down next to each other- we passed out sitting up on the couch- then we went back to sleep. I don't think he was really awake, because he sounded confused in the morning…"

"Ooh," Aphrodite murmured, "It's never good when the guy's confused in the morning. What happened when you woke up?"

"Well, I was freaking out, so I left really fast, but he was really calm. He even offered me breakfast! It was almost like…"

"Like he'd done it before? Woken up next to a random person, not really remembering how they got there?" Aphrodite finished for her, understanding what they younger goddess was saying. After all, she'd done herself, quite a number of times. Artemis nodded sadly, and Aphrodite felt a bit sympathetic for her friend.

"Well, maybe he was just as surprised as you, but hid it better?" Aphrodite said, trying to reassure her friend. Artemis tilted her head, considering the theory.

"Hmm… I suppose it's possible, since I couldn't see his face-"

"What do you mean, you _couldn't see his face_!?" Aphrodite interrupted, astounded.

"He still wears that mask he showed up in at the Solstice."

"What!? And you _still_ fell for him!? What if he's as ugly as Hephaestus!?"

"I don't exactly judged based on looks, Aphrodite!" Artemis cried indignantly, "Besides, he said he's a demigod, and you _know_ that even the children of Hephaestus aren't that bad!"

Aphrodite heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh! Alright, that makes it a little better, I guess… Do you have any idea who his parent is?"

Artemis shook her head. "Not really. He has black hair, but that's the only defining feature I've noticed. His eyes are covered up by that mask, and the abilities he's shown don't match up with any of the gods, so…"

"Well, hair isn't enough to go off of. There's plenty of demigods with black hair. What powers are you talking about?"

Artemis told Aphrodite about the black flames, Shadow Walking, the blue katana that summoned blue flames, and his ability to pull things out of thin air.

The Love Goddess pondered the description for a while, then shook her head in defeat. "Yeah, I've never heard of anybody else doing stuff like that… By the way, what's his name? You never mentioned it."

Artemis lowered her head, mumbling something that even Aphrodite's godly hearing could not pick.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I said… I don't know," Artemis said sheepishly. She hunched over slightly when Aphrodite face-palmed, trying to make herself a smaller target for the upcoming rant.

"Artemis, how could you not know his name!? And you fell for him!?"

"He gave me _a_ name," Artemis defended weakly.

"Oh? What is it?"

"He said one of his titles was 'The Ghost of the Bloody Mist,' so I could just call him Ghost."

Aphrodite face-palmed once more, dragging her perfectly manicured nails down her face in exasperation. "Arty~," she moaned unhappily, "You cannot _possibly_ hope to start a relationship with this guy. Relationships are _built_ on trust, and there's obviously none between you two if _he won't tell you anything_!"

"Who said I wanted to start a relationship with him?" Artemis asked defiantly. The pitying look she got in return caused the Moon Goddess to deflate. "Okay, so maybe I do- but I can't, anyways! What would happen to my Hunters?"

"What about them?" Aphrodite asked, confused.

"I am their _leader_! What kind of example would it set if I broke every single one of the founding principles!?"

"So… Just change it. What's the big deal?"

"What if they stop following me? I don't want them to lose faith in me!"

"Ugh, Arty, you're just making things complicated. You're a _goddess_ \- you can do what you want, and if they don't like it, they're free to go. It's not like anything is _forcing_ you to take care of them. If anything, they should be _grateful_ to you! You saved most of them from some pretty bad situations, gave them a second chance at life, gave them _immortality_! The ones who are smart will understand that, and follow you even if you fall in love."

"But I don't want _any_ of them to leave!" Artemis wailed, becoming more and more distraught.

"Listen, hon, this can go one of two ways. Either you keep all of your hunters, and stay unhappy, or you follow your heart and do what _you_ want. Think about it this way; if any of your Hunters want to fight you on your decision to fall in love, then that means they care more about some stupid values than your happiness. Do you _really_ want to keep such toxic people around?"

"I… I don't… I can't just _kick them out_ because they don't agree with me! What will the other girls think!?"

Aphrodite sighed, getting up to walk around the table and sit next to the Moon Goddess. She wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, pulling her into a motherly embrace.

"Artemis, you don't understand. Love does not involve anyone besides the two people with feelings for each other. It does not _matter_ what they think, because they are not in the relationship… Are they? Because that'd be really kinky."

"No! Of course not!" Artemis cried, though it was slightly muffled by Aphrodite's shoulder. Aphrodite yanked the silver goddess away from her, holding the now-startled immortal at arms length, so she could look her in her wide eyes.

"So _why_ are you worried about them!?" the Love Goddess shouted, shaking the maiden goddess for emphasis, "They are not _you_ , and they are not _Ghost_ , so _they do not matter_!"

Artemis grabbed Aphrodite's wrists before she responded, to reduce the risk of biting her tongue off when she opened her mouth. "Alright, I get it! Stop shaking me!"

Aphrodite stopped rocking her friend, instead squeezing her shoulders in a painfully tight grip. The pink goddess leaned forward, eyes narrowed dangerously. Artemis tried to move away, but found herself stuck in place.

" _What_ do you get?" Aphrodite asked in a low, almost growling, voice.

"I- I'll do what _I_ want," Artemis choked out, terrified by her friend's sudden personality switch.

"Okay, great!" Aphrodite cried, releasing Artemis. She clapped her hands together like a preppy high school girl. The silver goddess released a breath she hadn't known she was holding, suddenly aware of her heart hammering against her ribcage.

"You're scary…" she muttered, trying to recompose herself. Aphrodite heard, but didn't comment. After all, love _could_ be quite terrifying with how unpredictable and sudden it was.

"Well, I think my work here is done!" Aphrodite said proudly. She moved back to her side of the table, picking up her cup of rosemary tea, that had been mostly neglected during the conversation. Luckily, it was still warm. "Arty, drink your tea before it gets cold."

Artemis did so, picking up her cup with slightly-trembling hands. That insane glint in Aphrodite's eyes had frayed her nerves more than she would care to admit. Taking a sip of the tea, Artemis decided that she quite liked it, and drank some more.

"Oh, and take some snacks while you're at it- I would hate to see them go to waste."

The two goddesses spent the next few minutes in a comfortable silence, eating and drinking. Artemis was thinking about what Aphrodite had said.

"Alright," the Moon Goddess began, "So, we've determined that I have… _Fallen_ , for Ghost, despite not knowing his actual name or what he looks like-"

"Which, while cute, is kind of stupid," Aphrodite cut in, "He obviously doesn't trust you."

Artemis scowled at the Love Goddess. "Well, _I_ trust that he will tell me everything soon. He even swore on the Styx that he would, so that has to count for something, right?"

"Of course it does!" Aphrodite cried, "Why didn't you say that sooner!?"

"Well, I was a _bit_ busy getting my brain rattled by _someone_ , so excuse me!" Artemis replied, disgruntled by her friend's accusatory tone.

"You needed that," Aphrodite said, completely unrepentant for her actions. The Moon Goddess had to acknowledge the truth behind that statement; if Aphrodite hadn't done it, she would never get anywhere.

"So, how do I find out if he feels the same way?" Artemis asked, continuing her interrupted thought.

Aphrodite grimaced, sucking in air through her teeth. "That's the tricky part. Facial expressions are a _huge_ part of silent communication. Without those, you'll just have to watch his body language, and listen to his tone whenever he speaks. Until you know for sure- and I'll help you find out- _don't_ try to confess to him. It's possible he might not feel the same way, and you'll just end up getting hurt. In the meantime, though, don't act differently. Sure, try to be around him as much as you can, but be _you_. It'd be bad if he fell for an act, right?"

Artemis nodded, seeing the logic behind the advice.

"And…" Aphrodite continued, before pausing, "Actually,I think that's everything, for now. Obviously, keep me updated, and I'll do my best to help you," she gave Artemis a pointed look, at which the Moon Goddess simply rolled her eyes.

"So, since we're done with that, let's actually talk- it's been _so_ long. Anyways, you weren't there for the second half of the Solstice Assembly, right? Well, things got really crazy when Athena gave Apollo a book, but he chucked it at her face…"

Artemis settled back with a contented smile. She had her plan and she knew _what_ to do. All that was left was to actually _do_ it. But, that could wait. For now, she wanted to hear just how badly her stupid brother messed up _this_ time.

* * *

 **So, Artemis has chosen to embrace her feelings, and anyone who wants to fight her can get fucked. I'm not a love guru or something, so don't expect any of the advice above to actually work. It's just a bunch of bullshit.**

 **Meanwhile, Percy has chosen the exact opposite of what Artemis did; he doesn't want anything to do with this. This can only end well…**

 **K bai :D**


	16. Chapter 16

Ghost was staring blankly at his television when Artemis burst into his apartment. Luckily, he hadn't bothered to take his mask off earlier, so he allowed himself to sink deep into his thoughts- deep enough that he didn't hear the click of the closing door.

Artemis walked in and sat down next to him on the couch. She watched him curiously for a minute, then got worried when he hadn't done anything. The man was simply sitting there, controller resting in unmoving hands, head tilted back slightly to view the wall-mounted screen. He was once more playing Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Aloy was fidgeting, as all game characters did when the player was not playing. It was unnerving, how silent and still he was- Artemis wasn't even sure if he was breathing.

"Ghost?" she asked, but got no response. Cautiously, she reached out to grab his shoulder, only to gasp when his hand moved faster than she could see, catching her wrist. His head snapped to the side, the yellow glow of his eyes burning a hole into her.

"Artemis. What are you doing here?" he asked, quietly. He let go of her wrist as quickly as he caught it, returning his hand to the Dualshock controller. His head turned so he was once more facing forward, but this time he actually began to play the game.

"Nothing, really…" Artemis muttered, rubbing at her wrist. Even though he had a hold of her for short a time, his grip was strong enough to leave a rapidly-darkening bruise. Ghost didn't seem to notice what he had done, instead focusing on his game.

"Are you… Okay?" the goddess asked hesitantly, unnerved by his silence.

"Well enough. Why?"

"You didn't even notice when I came in…"

"I was simply... Thinking."

Artemis was silent for a moment, debating on whether she should ask or not, before she decided there was nothing to lose. "What were you thinking about?"

Ghost froze, as if astounded that she would ask. In the game, Aloy was mauled to death by a massive robot feline, because Ghost had stopped controlling her. He was quiet for a while, causing Artemis to regret her decision.

Just when she was about to apologize, the masked man surprised her by speaking up. "I am… Restless."

Artemis was slightly confused. "Why? Don't you always have something to do?"

"Not as often as you may think. The video games help, but they are… Not enough. I wish to fight."

"Well," Artemis began hesitantly, "You could always spar with me or one of the Hunters. They might enjoy the opportunity to hurt you," she joked. Her smile faded when Ghost did not laugh.

"That will not be enough."

Indignation clawed at Artemis. "Are you saying me and my girls aren't skilled enough to take you on? You truly are as arrogant as a typical male," she jabbed, hoping to elicit a humorous response from him. He was very rarely this serious.

"Sorry, I think I said that wrong. Tell me, Artemis, how long have I been here?"

Startled by the sudden topic change, the Moon Goddess was a bit slow in responding. "Um… Just over two months, I think?"

"Yes. And in that time, have you ever had reason to suspect me of being an enemy of Olympus?" he asked, finally turning away from the TV to look at her. He set his controller on the couch, off to his side. Artemis was growing more confused and worried the longer this conversation continued.

"Well, no. You never tried to escape, or hurt me or my Hunters… Why?"

"Do you think Zeus will allow me to roam freely now?"

Artemis' eyes widened. "W-well, if I vouched for your innocence, and if you swore an oath to never turn against Olympus… I believe he would. Why? Do you… Wish to leave?" she asked, saddened by the thought.

Ghost was quiet for another moment, simply staring at the Moon Goddess. "Is there an issue with that?"

"…No. You can do as you please," Artemis murmured.

"Then we can go to Olympus now," Ghost declared, standing up.

Artemis' eyes widened in shock, and her mouth fell open. "Y-you want to go now!?" she cried, taken completely by surprise.

"You said there was no issue with it, did you not? Besides, I want to irritate Zeus by dropping in randomly. It'll be fun."

Artemis stood up slowly. She watched in numb disbelief as Ghost walked around his apartment's living room with new energy, straightening up the place. After the last video game was on the shelf, he turned around and surveyed his work with a simple nod. That done, he walked towards Artemis, who seemed lost in thought.

"Alright, I'm ready," he told her. His voice was laced with eagerness, like he couldn't wait to be gone. Artemis couldn't ignore the pain that particular thought caused her, but she at least didn't show it on her face.

"...Can I at least know why you're leaving?" Artemis asked, unsure if she would receive an answer or not.

"Didn't I _just_ say I'm restless?" he replied, amused. He turned serious an instant later. "But, I misspoke when I said I want to fight. I'm not talking about sparring, or training, or whatever you wanna call it. I want to _kill_."

The way he said it sent a chill down Artemis' spine, and the goddess couldn't help but take a step back. The sheer amount of bloodlust put into that one word nearly overcame her, and she once more shuddered violently. The effect had been amplified by the echo of his voice, which he mostly did not use.

"Where will you go, then?" Artemis asked hesitantly.

"The mortal world, obviously," Ghost replied casually, causing Artemis to gasp. He barked out a harsh laugh. "Your _face_! Ha! That was a joke, by the way."

The Moon Goddess heaved a sigh of relief. "It was a _horrible_ joke! If you had done that, Olympus would be forced to hunt you down- is that what you want!?"

"No, no. That sounds like it'd be a pain in the ass, to be honest. Tempting, but annoying."

"Where are you actually going, then?"

"Tartarus, of course," the man said, instantly killing the barely-humorous mood. A cold gust of wind blew through the apartment, ruffling Artemis' clothes. Ghost shivered a bit, rubbing his arms. "That rat bastard…" the maiden heard him mutter, but it was ignored in the face of her astonishment.

" _Why_ would you go _back_ to that… That… That _hellhole_!?" she shrieked, outraged by the very notion.

"Why _not_? I said I wanted to kill things, and there's plenty of things to kill down there. Come on, you're supposed to be at least halfway smart! Maybe not _Athena_ smart, but still, this is like putting two and two together," he teased.

"B-but what if you die!?"

"Calculated risk," Ghost replied, waving his hand dismissively.

At this point, Artemis was grasping at straws. She didn't want him to go, but she didn't exactly have a reason to make him stay, either. She didn't want to lie to the man's face, and tell him that her father wouldn't let him go, and he didn't seem to care much if he died. She obviously couldn't reveal her feelings to him, since he might leave her heartbroken anyways. The only thing left was…

"What about the oath you swore, to tell me everything?"

"I won't be gone _forever_. I'll come back at some point," he replied, instantly. It was as if he expected her to say that.

"But if you die, then how are you supposed to keep your word!?"

"Alright, now you're just complicating things. I'm not gonna die in some shitty hole, and you thinking that I might is straight-up insulting. So~, _stop_."

"...I really can't change your mind?" she asked sadly, staring at the floor now.

"I mean, I _would_ stay if you told me you were pregnant and that it was my kid…"

Artemis' head snapped up. " _What_!?" A golden blush lit up her face.

Ghost continued on as is if he didn't hear her. "...But that's obviously not going to happen, since we never had sex. Don't sound so surprised, that's some shit mortal women do _all_ the time- have you never watched Maury?"

"N-no! I have better things to do!"

"That's a shame, it's a good show… Anyways, are we heading to Olympus or what?"

"Fine!" Artemis shouted, thoroughly annoyed with the masked man. Her face was still flushed, though more out of indignation that embarrassment

"Wait!" Ghost cried suddenly, but Artemis had already grabbed his arm. In a flash of light, the two were in the throne room of Olympus. He groaned loudly once he noticed the shift in location.

"Wait for what?" Artemis asked smugly, glad that the tables had turned for once.

"I _just_ remembered that I still don't know which of your Hunters shot me that one time. That bitch owes me money," he said hotly.

"What are you, a member of the mafia?" Artemis reached up and slapped him on the back of the head. "And _don't_ talk about my girls like that," she said threateningly.

Ghost thumped her on the head in return, pissing the goddess off. She swung back, narrowly missing his ribs when he leaned to the side. Irritated further, she began to chase the man around the throne room, tapping into her godly strength to force her legs to carry her further, and make up for the size difference between the two. Ghost had some pretty long legs.

She was moments away from grabbing the man by the hood of his jacket, which was flopping around madly, when he suddenly ducked.

At least, she _thought_ he ducked. He seemed to drop about a foot in height, but in the next instant he was gone. Artemis hit the brakes a moment later, just barely avoiding crashing into the side of her own throne. That would have been embarrassing. Then, she noticed the lack of light on the marble floor, where the throne blocked the artificial sun that hung in the middle of the room.

Artemis groaned, then turned to walk out of the shadows. Unfortunately for her, she was moving far too slow, and was therefore unprepared for when Ghost burst from the darkness. She shrieked, taking a quick step back, but Ghost's arms were still long enough to grab her. He wrapped an arm around the goddess' waist, pulling her close to him. She didn't even have time to blush at their proximity, because before she knew it, the maiden was horizontal. Ghost was holding her in the loop between his right arm and his hip.

There was a flash of light in the throne room, startling the pair. Ghost walked over to check it out, and locked eyes with the King of Olympus himself. Zeus' eyes wandered down to the struggling auburn-haired person that the masked man was holding, then back to the man's sickly yellow eyes.

"I came because I felt a presence in the throne room… But I don't think I want to know," Zeus muttered, loud enough that Artemis and Ghost could hear him.

"Can I get off house-arrest now?" Ghost asked bluntly. Zeus raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised by the audacity.

"What say you, daughter? You are the one who has watched over him," the King asked, completely ignoring the position his daughter was in.

Artemis sighed, once she realized she would get no help from her father. "He has not tried to escape, nor has he harmed me or my hunters. Other than that, he mostly stayed out of the way. I don't believe he is a threat to Olympus."

Zeus eyed the maiden for a moment, deciding whether to believe her or not. When she held his gaze without wavering, he nodded approvingly

"Very well. Simply swear an oath on the Styx to never turn against Olympus, and I believe that shall be all."

Ghost did so, and Zeus left, satisfied. Artemis was slightly stunned that her father had not shown his volatile temper even the slightest bit. It was a rare occasion, meaning that something- or perhaps _someone_ \- had put him in a good mood. His clothes didn't look ruffled, and there were no lipstick smears on his skin, but he was a god; it was easy to get rid of things like that. Or to hide them, at the very least.

"Are you going to put me down?" Artemis asked Ghost, irritated, but also slightly giddy at the contact.

"Dunno… Maybe I should just take you to Tartarus with me, since you seem so worried."

The man felt the goddess stiffen in his arm, and he flicked her the forehead with his free hand. "Don't worry, I wouldn't _actually_." With that reassurance, he dropped the goddess like a sack of potatoes.

Not expecting to be left to the mercy of gravity, Artemis narrowly avoided slamming face-first into the marble floor by sticking her hands out below her, stopping her mere inches from the ground. She growled, and shot to her feet, only to find that Ghost was walking away.

"Where do you think you're going!?" she shouted after him, ready to give chase and pay him back.

"Bye," the man said, before he dropped into the shadows at the side of Artemis' throne. She gaped at the spot where he had been just a moment ago, feeling slightly hurt that he had simply… _Left_ , like that.

"Well… At least said bye," Artemis murmured to herself, trying to ignore the pain in her heart. She sighed, before teleporting back to her camp. Ghost hadn't said when he would be back- just that he would be- but Artemis hoped it would be soon. For some reason, she had a feeling things were about to get very lonely, in the Hunters' camp.

* * *

 **The abrupt farewell- so tragic! Not really, I think it's pretty amusing. We all know Percy will be back, but he might not be better than ever. Tartarus changes people, even if they've been there before. Things will be discovered down in the Pit, that may have been better off unknown…**

 **K bai :D**


	17. Chapter 17

"Ugh, I did it again…" Percy griped to himself, while wandering the uncertain terrain of Tartarus. "I'm supposed to be _distancing_ myself from her, not grabbing her! Fucking _idiot_ …"

"Ya got that right, King! Ya sure are a tool!" a shrill voice echoed behind the demigod. He turned his head to glance at his companion; a carbon-copy of himself, just with different colors. White hair, pure white skin, black teeth and eyes, and a massive, toothy, _feral_ grin.

"Fuck you- horses shouldn't be talkin'," Percy replied, irritated.

"But ain't ya the son of that salty bastard?"

The son of Poseidon was silent for a moment. Then, "Remind me why I haven't killed ya yet?"

"Because…" The discolored Percy trailed off, seemingly deep in thought. He slammed a fist down into his palm. "Oh, right! 'Cuz ya _can't_!" the clone shrieked, then broke off into an ear-piercing laugh.

Percy growled, pulling Riptide out of his pocket. He could use it now, since nobody was around to see and figure out his identity. Uncapping the pen, he whirled around and made a quick slash across his clone's throat, reducing his cackling to gurgling. The paper-white version of the demigod fell face-first to the ground, blue blood pooling around his head. Moment's later, the corpse disappeared.

" _That wasn't very nice of ya, King!"_ the clone shrieked in Percy's head, " _In fact, I'm so sad, I might just start singin'! O~h, ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall-!"_

"That doesn't even make _sense_!" Percy shouted, his voice bouncing throughout the Pit. He was starting to regret his decision to come here, since he was now saddled with that damnable voice in his head.

It was one of the weirdest things Percy had ever seen; his mask, which he had been wearing at the time, simply floated off his face. Then, it began to spew a white substance from the back, where his face went- the same stuff that bubbled up from his skin when his high-speed regeneration activated. The liquid hardened into a humanoid shape of similar build to Percy, then condensed slightly to sharpen the details. It resulted in the clone, who was still wearing the mask at the time, which was honestly quite disturbing. It didn't help that he was definitely insane, his voice was annoying, and he had an odd fascination with kings and horses, talking about how the horse was the weaker person of the two. Then, he had the _nerve_ to try and jump Percy. The demigod beat his ass, of course, but it was a lot closer than he would have liked. He had to tap into some of his other abilities, that the mask didn't have access to.

After getting beat, the mask-clone took off the mask, revealing that his face was exactly the same as Percy's, just with different colors. It was so revolting that Percy punched him in the face again.

Now, here they were, with Percy walking through Tartarus, followed by his off-color clone- who he called Horse, due to his obsession with them- and searching for something to fight. Unfortunately, nothing was to be found. It seemed that the weaker monsters were too scared of him, and the stronger ones, like the Titans and Giants, had better things to do. All in all, this trip had become a complete bust. At least if he had stayed in Artemis' camp, he could've been playing video games, or messed around with the goddess herself… Actually, that last one was something he needed to avoid. It simply wouldn't do to fall for her even more, especially when he had no chance with her. She wanted answers, and that was it.

"Right, she's only in it for the answers… For the answers…" Percy mumbled, and spent the next hour or so repeating that line to himself. He only stopped when Horse finally got bored, and began singing again.

"Ergh… Maybe I should go talk to Nyx and see if I can get rid of you…" he told the voice in his head, who merely cackled. Percy decided in that instant that he was _definitely_ going to see the Primordial. Probably not the best idea, since she might have been pissed off at him because of last time, but he was hoping that the absurdity of the situation would distract her from that.

Percy broke into a run, making use of his long legs and powerful muscles to cover ground like a cheetah with incredible staying power. It took a few days- maybe, since time was weird down here- and a few tumbles when he tripped on nearly-invisible rocks, but Percy finally arrived at the left foot of Tartarus, overlooking the Void of Chaos.

Sitting cross-legged on a large boulder nearby was a woman, about the same size as Percy. She had ashen gray skin, with greasy hair falling down past her shoulders. She wore a gray dress so tattered, it looked like a potato sack with arm holes.

"Hey, Akhyls, think you can call your mom out?" Percy asked the Goddess of Misery, who was staring blankly out into the Void. The goddess turned to him, tears running from her eyes like always. She looked away away once she saw who was talking to her, and Percy swore he could hear her huff in annoyance.

"Seriously? Are you actually still mad at me for some shit that isn't even _my fault_!?"

"It _is_ your fault, you stupid child!" Akhyls hissed venomously, rounding on the demigod. "All you have to do is _feel misery_ , but you cannot even do that! You are _worthless_ to me!"

"Listen, bitch, your just jealous 'cause I'm the jolliest mothafucka you've ever seen, but that's _still_ not my fault. If anything, it's yours, since _you_ can't affect me!"

"Oh, I can affect you _just_ fine…" Akhyls muttered menacingly, then began to spew poisonous liquid from her mouth. It pooled on the ground, and started to steadily flow toward the son of Poseidon.

Percy took a step back, holding his arms up to defend against a nearly intangible threat. "Hey, woah, chill with the poison. I never said anything about poison."

"You said that I cannot affect you- I am simply proving you wrong," Akhyls replied smugly, stretching her self-mutilated face into a yellow-toothed smile.

"Yeah, I was _talking_ about with _misery_! This and that are two different things!" he cried, backing up more from the slowly-approaching wave of venom.

"Die!" Akhyls roared, and the stream of poison launched off the ground. Percy shrieked in terror, launching himself backward, only to trip and fall on his ass. He curled into the fetal position, protecting his head with his arms.

After a long moment without pain, Percy looked up, and saw… Nothing. Everything had gone dark, and the man couldn't even see his hands, which he knew to be in front of his face.

"Oh shit… Am I _blind_!?" he wailed, panicking. At that moment, the dim red light of Tartarus returned, as the darkness surrounding him simply melted into shadows. Akhyls was in the same place as before, but she seemed fairly displeased. He looked to where she was glaring, out into the inky black of the Void, and could barely make out the equal black form of a massive, forty-foot-tall woman. She rode a black chariot, pulled by shadow horses. She wore black robes, and her skin was black, but dotted with stars and galaxies. Her eyes shone like muted supernovae, piercing Percy's very soul. Her long black hair flowed down her back, only visible because of how shiny it was, like polished metal.

"Oh. Nyx. Ignore that," the demigod said, climbing to his feet. "So, what's going on? How's the family?" Percy asked, trying to seem more casual than he actually was. He'd never admit it, but Nyx scared him. Both because she was a Primordial that could sneeze him out of existence, and because she had a bad habit of staring for too long before she spoke- one that he may have picked up.

"...I am well enough, Perseus, though I cannot speak for my children. They rarely speak to me anymore…" she responded, with a heavy sigh. Oh, right. She was also kind of depressed, and her mood tended to affect his, due to the strength of her emotions. "I see my husband has not claimed you yet…" she said offhandedly.

"Can we _not_ talk about that?" Percy asked nervously, glancing around the rocky landscape of Tartarus anxiously.

"I suppose it can wait until later… Akhyls, my daughter, how have you been?" Nyx asked, seeing that the demigod's attention was elsewhere.

"Fine," the Misery Goddess replied bluntly, her single word clipped and harsh.

Nyx almost looked like she was going to cry, while Akhyls _was_ crying. Then again, she always was, so it couldn't really be called crying… More like having leaky eyes.

Percy frowned, noticing the look on the Primordial's face, having stopped his examination of the surrounding lands. "Akhyls, don't talk to your mom like that," he told the Misery Goddess. It probably wouldn't work, but he had to try, at least. Nyx was as fragile as his own mother, Sally Jackson (whom he hadn't seen in years), and it made him uncomfortable to see her cry.

"Well, maybe I would be nicer if she hadn't _abandoned_ me in this _hellhole_!"

Nyx broke down, shrinking so she was slightly smaller than Percy. He would have hugged her, if she hadn't been in her shadow chariot hovering over the Void. That was _not_ a jump he felt confident making.

"Come on, you _know_ that wasn't her fault! Tartarus was the only Primordial to have made a physical manifestation at that time- where else would she have put you? You can't survive in the Void!"

"But she didn't have to _leave_ me here!" Akhyls shouted, chipped teeth gritted. "Erebus created the Underworld, Gaia and Pontus created the Earth, Ouranos created the Sky, and _yet_ , here I am, _still in Tartarus_!" Akhyls roared, turning to her mother, who was hidden by the high walls of the shadow chariot. "Do you hear me, woman!? _MIllions_ of years spent in _so much misery_ that it _became_ my domain! And it is _all your fault_!"

Nyx's sobs became loud, transforming into screaming wails, and Percy shuddered. He knew if this got any worse, she might accidentally destabilize and send out a wave of power that would wipe him from existence.

"How about I bring you somewhere else?" Percy blurted, then bit his tongue. For real, this time. His mouth filled with blood in seconds, which he quickly spat out, before his regeneration kicked in. Unfortunately, it was only the _physical_ damage that was repaired.

Silence reigned in the Pit. There were no tortured screams of the damned, no bestial roars, no fires crackling, not even the cracking of the glass shards that layered the ground of Tartarus.

Akhyls turned to him slowly, watery eyes wide. "Would… Would you really?" she asked quietly, disbelievingly.

Percy swallowed heavily, loud enough that Nyx probably heard it all the way in her shadow chariot, which was a good hundred feet away, before slowly nodding. "On one condition, though!"

The Misery Goddess' eyes narrowed dangerously, causing the demigod to take a step back in fear. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the probable explosion. "You have to be nice to your mother."

Akhyls was silent for a long time, and soon every single one of Percy's muscles hurt from being clenched extremely tightly in preparation to run like a bitch. She pursed her lips, and he very nearly hopped into a nearby shadow right that second. He managed to keep himself still, though it was a close thing.

"Can't I just ignore her?" Akhlys finally asked, and the son of Poseidon finally started to breathe again.

"Well… Just for now. But one day, I expect you two to act like an actual mother and daughter," Percy answered, praying to the Void below that she didn't find his proposition unsatisfactory and simply blast him. Despite the way he talked to her earlier, he still had a healthy amount of fear and respect for her immense power. She may not have been referred to as a Primordial, but she basically was one.

"...We'll see," was the response, and Percy relaxed all the way. "How would you get me out of here, anyways?" Akhyls asked.

Percy didn't say anything, instead slashing a hand through the sulfuric air, opening a rip in reality; a portal. The ability had been granted to him by the Fates, as if they knew the first thing he would do upon waking up would be to go to Tartarus. Then again, they probably did.

Akhyls crept closer, examining the tear. It lead to a random forest somewhere on Gaia, and the Goddess of Misery looked at it with fascination.

"What are those green things on the tree? And why are the trees brown? And what's that green stuff on the ground?"

Percy was stunned into silence, until Akhyls turned on him, and he rushed to answer. "Those things on trees are leaves, and the trees are brown because that's how they naturally are, and the green stuff on the ground is grass- it's pretty much the same thing as leaves."

"Woah…" Akhlys muttered, in awe.

"You… Don't know about that stuff?" Percy asked hesitantly. He didn't exactly want to accidentally offend the super-powerful deity, who could easily stomp one of the Titans, by somehow insulting her intelligence.

"No, I don't see any of it down here in Tartarus. It's all _gray_ and _red_ and _dead_ ," Akhyls said. "What's this thing, too?" she asked, gesturing to the opening in the fabric of space.

"It's a portal- if you walk through it, you get transported to the place it shows you."

Akhyls nodded her head in understanding, before stepping closer. Percy grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back a bit. "Not yet- I still have to talk to your mother, and I am _not_ letting you wander Gaia by yourself."

Akhlys sneered at the mention of Nyx, but relented still. She walked back over to her boulder, sat down, and resumed staring out into her father's domain.

Percy sighed. His impulsive tongue had just created a lot of work for him, but there was no going back now. Not if he wanted to remain in existence, that is. He turned to the floating chariot, ignoring the shadow steeds which were staring at him. They weren't sentient, just simple constructs used to pull the Stygian Iron chariot.

"Nyx?" he called, hoping the Primordial hadn't gotten too deep in her crying that she wouldn't hear him.

She poked her head up over the side of the chariot. She had to grow a bit to do so, but she was still rather small, compared to her normal form. Those supernovae eyes were still as powerful as ever, but Percy refused to let it throw him off now.

"Can you come over here?"

The sniffling deity nodded, mentally commanding her shadow horses to bring the chariot closer. It settled on the glass sand of Tartarus silently, like a shadow in the night, which was to be expected. Percy walked over, climbing into the chariot and settled in next to the shrunken Primordial, who was now smaller than him- the size of a mortal kid.

"Hey," he murmured gently, drawing the child into a comforting hug, "You doing okay?"

A shake of her head was the answer, and the demigod squeezed her a bit. "Aw, don't mind Akhlys, she's just a little mad. She'll be fine soon, especially since I'm taking her to the mortal world."

Nyx's head snapped up, bright eyes wide in surprise. "What?" she squeaked, her voice also sounding like that of a child.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't drive everything insane with misery. I might have to ask the Fates for something to suppress her powers, but they'll handle it. They kinda like me, so… Yeah. Trust me, it'll be fine."

Nyx stared at him for a long moment, as she tended to do, before nodding and snuggling into his chest. They sat like that for a long time, before Nyx finally sighed, and sat up.

"Why are you here, Perseus?"

"Uh… Oh, right! Remember last time I came here?"

"When you once more entered my Mansion without permission, got possessed by one of the demons, and nearly died? Yes, I remember it _quite_ clearly."

Percy smiled nervously; Nyx sounded kind of mad. "Yeah, that. The demon, it's sort of… Been causing me problems."

"Such as?"

"It came to life."

Nyx exhaled heavily through her nostrils in exasperation. "Do you understand _now_ why I keep those creatures locked up in my abode?"

"Of course! I understood it way back then, after I almost died. Just, not _before_ , which is why we're having these issues," Percy replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Show me," the Primordial commanded, still managing to sound powerful despite having such a childish voice.

Percy called his bone-white mask into existence with the black flames, then tossed it in front of him. The formation happened _much_ quicker this time, and within seconds, the clone stood in front of the sitting pair.

Horse crouched down in front of Nyx, staring at her with the sickly yellow eyes of the mask. Without warning, his hand reached up and whipped he mask off his face, and the demon yelled, "Peek-a-boo!"

Nyx, not expecting it, shrieked, and lashed out with her stubby leg. It collided with Horse's chest, and launched the demon into the opposite side of the chariot so hard, the entire thing tilted for a second, before settling heavily back onto the ground. Horse himself had been splattered across the Stygian Iron in an explosion of white skin and blue blood. Unfortunately, his face managed to stay intact, so his feral grin still stared out at Percy and Nyx.

Seconds later, the same white substance he was made of consumed the remains of Horse, and reformed him very quickly.

"What the _fuck_ was that for, you little bitch!?" the demon shouted, no longer smiling.

Percy was about to yell back, when he suddenly froze. There was an intense amount of rage radiating off the small figure next to him, and he began to sweat furiously in panic.

"Ah, Nyx, calm down! That's just how he is, seriously- he's insane!" Percy cried, desperately waving his hands about. He turned to scowl at his clone. "And _you_ \- don't yell at her! Do you _want_ to get obliterated, you retard!?"

He immediately turned back to fussing over the bite-sized Primordial, leaving Horse to grumble quietly to himself.

Finally, Nyx calmed down, and Percy was able to stop his constant rambling. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"I see what is going on, now," she said in her normal voice, with a sense of finality that Percy felt dread once more. "To save you from possession, I had to put the demon into a deep sleep-a trance, of sorts- and hide it away into the deepest recesses of your mind, to prevent it from ravishing your psyche more. The only way it could have woken is if your mind was in such turmoil that it began to shuffle about, bringing the demon close to the surface. Tell me, has anything of the such happened recently?"

Percy thought on it, and realized that, yes, something like that had indeed happened. "Yeah… Erebus sorta paid me a mental visit last week or so."

"That would do it," Nyx said grimly, "My husband was never one to be gentle. Ever so like his brother... Afterwards, did you find yourself unable to completely control your actions? More so than the other times your mask has caused you issues in the beginning, when you were still adjusting to using it?"

"Yeah… And my mask changed a bit, too. It grew a horn, but only one. It's _never_ done that."

Nyx nodded, not seeming very surprised. "Yes, so it seems my husband's visit is what truly awoke the demon, and it immediately attempted to wrest control of your body from you. Fortunately, you have a strong mind, and the demon was also weak from the trance. The horn you mentioned- the physical form of the demon, before it possessed you, had horns. Did it look like this?" Nyx asked, forming the exact shape with shadows; the same jagged base, which led into a spike with an extremely sharp point.

"Yeah, _just_ like that…" Percy muttered, leaning forward a bit.

"That means the demon was trying to reassume its true form, using your body as the base. As for how it ended up like _that_ …" she said, gesturing at Horse, who was sitting on the opposite side of the chariot, "That would have happened eventually, as the demon gained strength. It copied your image, since it likely does not have the energy yet to form its previous body. The only reason it happened so quickly is because the air of Tartarus is like ambrosia for demons; it fills them with energy, allowing this one to reach the copy stage so soon after it awoken. Had you remained on Gaia's Earth, it would have taken… Perhaps a year? It differs slightly for each demon," Nyx finished. Percy simply stared down at her in awe.

"How did you know all that…?" he asked, amazed.

"I have experimented, of course. It simply would not do for me to be completely unknowledgeable about the beasts I contain within my Mansion. Imagine what would happen if they broke free, somehow." Nyx replied

"By the way, these demons… How are they created? I've only ever seen them in your Mansion, and I've explored a lot of places…"

"You know of the Field of Punishments, in my husband's realm?"

Percy nodded, and Nyx continued. "Well, sometimes, a soul is sent there that is simply too evil for the Underworld ruler to think up a proper punishment- evil enough, in fact, that their deeds are struck from mortal history, their names banished from existence. So, rather than settle for something less-than-adequate, they toss that vile soul down into Tartarus. The air here is filled with evil energies, which quickly corrupts these defenseless souls, who have no bodies nor sense of identity to prevent such a thing. They become those demons, and roam the Pit, accumulating strength by eating monsters. Since the monsters reform down here, there have an essentially unlimited amount of potential. A few have even become strong enough to challenge the Titans, but by that point I have heard of them, and intervened. They are dangerous, if left unchecked, but can thankfully not reproduce," Nyx finished, once more astounding Percy into silence.

"That's…" he began, but trailed off, unsure what else to say.

"Well, since I have answered your question, what will you do now?" she asked, and Percy caught the slight sadness in her tone. She was pretty lonely down here, confined to the Void to ensure none of the horrors trapped in the Mansion of Night ever escaped. None of her children visited, and Akhlys, who was the only one that lived nearby, hated her. Percy pitied the Primordial, which sounded odd, but made it no less true.

"Well… I don't really have anything to do up on Gaia, so I guess I could stay for a while. Maybe figure out how to deal with that demon bastard, while I'm at it…"

"Really!?" Nyx looked up at him with so much hope shining in her starry eyes that he almost had a heart attack. Added to the fact that she was currently the size of an eight-year-old, and he couldn't have refused if he wanted to.

"Of course."

Nyx squealed in glee, wrapping the man in a hug as well as she could with her short arms. Percy chuckled, returning the gesture.

His stay in Tartarus might be pretty enjoyable.

* * *

 **Finally got 40k+ words on this story, it's lit! I got a review from someone saying they expected this story to turn to shite with an OP af Percy stomping bitches. Be honest, how many of y'all thought the same?**

 **For you nonbelievers, I'm saying it right now, that's not gonna happen. Sure, Percy might be able to take on a God or a Titan, but that's only during a 1v1, and through pure skill. He's not gonna be able to overpower them- he might be a bit faster, in some cases, and his reflexes will definitely be better because of a power he hasn't revealed yet- but for the most part it's gonna be pure skill. Also regeneration, because that helps.**

 **K bai :D**


	18. Chapter 18

"Alright, you ready, Akhlys?"

"Of course, I've prepared for this for a few months."

"Remember your name?"

"Ashley- and before you ask, I'm to refer to you as Ghost, only."

"Yup. And remember, _never_ …" Percy trailed off, waiting for the Goddess of Misery to finish the sentence.

Akhyls sighed. "Never take off the necklace, I _know_. Can we _go_ now?" she asked, sounding very annoyed. That was probably because Percy had asked her his question ten times in the last half-hour.

"Right, sorry… Just, nervous. No clue _why_ , though…" Percy chuckled, rubbing Akhyls' head. The goddess leaned into the touch, since she had never experienced positive physical contact. It felt nice.

As Ashley, Akhyls became a mortal child, about the size of a six-year-old, with a full head of non-greasy black hair, and pale white skin. Her eyes remained the same sickly yellow they were before (coincidentally the same as Percy's under the influence of the mask), since that was impossible to change. However, she was no longer radiating a joy-draining aura, courtesy of the charm from the Fates, in the shape of a snowflake necklace. It restricted the majority of her powers, such as her manipulation of poison, and obviously her innate ability to cause misery to her surroundings. Her Primordial-level energy was also mostly contained, being reduced all the way down to that of an exceptionally strong adult child of the Big Three, which Percy thought was pretty damned impressive.

The disguise was necessary if Percy was going to show her Gaia's domain, without alerting every immortal on the planet to their location. Also, because he didn't really want to travel with some sallow hag.

"Alright… Let's do this, then," Percy muttered, reaching up and ripping open a hole in the fabric of reality. He grabbed hold of Ashley's small hand, and together, they stepped through onto the Earth.

* * *

Man and child appeared in a forest clearing somewhere in Nevada. It was quiet, but not silent. There were birds chirping and insects buzzing. A light breeze was blowing through leaves and the grass. Off in the distance, Percy could sense a river, due to his father's power. The sun blazed brightly directly overhead, indicating that it was afternoon. A cloud cover lay suspended in the sky some miles to the west, warning of an impending storm.

"Wow…" Ashley murmured in a child-like voice. Her yellow eyes ran all over the area, taking in everything and nothing at the same time. She was so enraptured with the sheer amount of colors and shades that she didn't even examine the actual things.

"Everything is so… Bright…" she said quietly, tightening her grip on Percy's hand. She looked up at him. "Is it normally like this?"

The man, who had just put his mask on, nodded. His head swayed too low on the forward movement, and he tilted backwards, accidentally overcompensating. He ended up waving around drunkenly for a moment, before getting his head straight.

"These damned horns," he grumbled. His mask had changed while down in the Pit, due to the increased energy of his demon. The extra weight of the spikes made moving his head around somewhat difficult, since they were so much heavier than the mask itself, which made no sense. According to the demon, they would have a use besides looking badass and stabbing bitches, but that wouldn't come until he gained more energy. So for now, they were basically decorations.

Ashley giggled next to Percy, and the demigod patted her on the head.

"Alright, guess we should start this off; what do you wanna know first?" Percy asked the girl. Her eyes shined with unbound curiosity, and she began hopping up and down.

"What's that!? And that, and that, and that!?" she shouted, pointing at things scattered about the forest clearing.

Percy sighed, having a feeling he would get sick of this soon.

* * *

Surprisingly, it took a lot longer than he thought. He had ended up talking Ashley through most of the inhabitants of the forest, but when she saw the lake, he died a little inside. There was just _so much_ she didn't know about!

"Let's take a break, 'kay? It's been a few hours, and I'm getting kinda tired," Percy told Ashley. She stopped hopping around like a drugged-up rabbit, considering his words. She finally nodded solemnly, lower lip pushing out into an adorable pout.

Percy couldn't stop the smile that spread on his face, and he reached to ruffle the girl's hair, something she had yet to get tired of. He hoped she never would.

"How about this; I'm tired, but I _do_ know some people who can probably pick up where I left off. You up for it?"

Ashley's mood did a complete one-eighty, and her pout morphed into a ridiculously big grin. She nodded so fast that her hair became a black blur, and obscured most of her face.

Alright then," Percy said, chuckling. He reached down and picked the kid up by the back of her shirt, causing her to shriek, then sat her on his shoulders. She grabbed onto his head, yanking his hair for dear life. Ignoring the screaming child on his head, Percy used his free hand to rip open a portal. He stepped through the instant it stabilized, halfway across the world. The forest he took Ashley to had been somewhere in Asia, though his inability to pay attention in high school geography was biting him in the ass now, since he didn't know the exact location.

Now the two were in the good ol' U.S of A, in another forest. He didn't want to give the girl a heart attack by dropping them in the middle of a busy city, like the Big Apple. Gods knows just how many questions she would ask. The trees were somewhat familiar to the new inhabitant of Gaia, and would hopefully not cause her any distress.

Of course, the oaks here in America were different from the walnut trees of Asia, but they were close enough that Ashley didn't notice the difference. That, or she simply didn't notice. She was oddly quiet, Percy noted. He looked up a little bit, only to find that she was still. In the silence of the dark forest, when the prey had burrowed away and the predators came out to play, he could easily hear the sound of her even breathing. It seemed she had fallen asleep. Apparently, the necklace from the Fates had done more than just made Akhyls _look_ like a child.

A small chuckle rang out from the man, the sound distorted by the demonic properties of his mask.

It was actually a good thing Ashley had knocked out when she did, because he didn't particularly want to expose her to the slightly evil side of the silver figures surrounding him, illuminated slightly by the moonlight.

"Been a while, huh, Artemis?"

* * *

 **Just a short one, wanted to see if forcing myself to put out a chapter would reignite the creative spark in my brain. Not quite sure if it worked, since I'm just so tired these days. Sleep or no sleep, I'm perpetually exhausted, and it takes a tremendous amount of effort to get through the day. School is truly a hellhole.**

 **K bai :D**


	19. Chapter 19

"It has been indeed, Ghost. Six months, by my count," Artemis replied, though she didn't lower the bow she had aimed at his chest. Her silver eyes were narrowed to slits, watching him for any sign of hostility.

"For real? Damn, feels like so much longer…" the masked man muttered, but his voice echoed through the silent forest clearing. "Anyways, six months isn't that bad for you or your immortal girl scouts, is it? After all, you're, ya know, _immortal_."

"No, I suppose not. I am simply curious as to what you have been up to with that much free time."

Ghost raised a hidden eyebrow at how cold Artemis was being. Also from the fact that she was aiming a weapon at him, but that was deemed slightly less important. Had something happened during his vacation? Did she get tired of playing nice? "Oh, a little bit of this and that- you know how it goes," he answered vaguely.

"No, I'm not sure I do. Care to enlighten me? Perhaps you can start with why you are carrying around a young maiden."

"Is that what this is about?" Ghost asked, gesturing to all the Hunters surrounding him. He got no answer, and sighed in annoyance. "Well, I don't really feel like explaining that. I _will_ tell you that I didn't kidnap her or anything, so there's no need to go ballistic on me."

" _I_ will be the judge of that," Artemis hissed, and Ghost tensed up a bit. He had figured that he could have gotten some help from the Hunters in showing Ashley around Gaia, but was no longer quite sure if that was a good idea. Thank god she was still asleep.

"Listen, I don't know _what_ happened while I was gone, but you need to calm the fuck down. Like, seriously. Why the hell are you so angry in the first place?" Ghost asked, no longer seeing the need to be passive. If shit was about to go down, then he would handle it the best way he knew how; swear at it a lot.

Artemis was silent for a moment, before she lowered her bow. A simple hand gesture had her handmaidens doing the same, while a few more sent them on their way. They seemed confused by the dismissal, but still listened obediently. Once Artemis was pleased by their distance, she came forward.

Ghost eyed her warily, ready to slip into a shadow at a moment's notice. Ashley would probably be fine; Nyx was her mother, giving her a limited affinity for the darkness.

"I am calm now, so explain!" Artemis barked, and Ghost rolled his eyes.

"You most definitely are _not_ , so I think I'll keep quiet for now."

"You-!" Artemis began, but Ghost cut her off.

"Hey, Artemis, how long has it been since the Winter Solstice?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"Let's see, you were in charge of me for… Three months? And then you said I was gone for another six, so that's nine months, making this September… Yeah, I still have time. Anyways, what were you saying?" Ghost asked, finished with his incredibly random tangent. Artemis' eyebrows were twitching, and she would have probably filled him with enough arrows to make a pincushion jealous if she had her bow… Speaking of which, Ghost wondered where that thing was now. He never saw her stow it away at any point…

"Time for _what_!?" Artemis shouted, now completely pissed. These days, only Apollo could have set her off like this, so this was a rare sight.

"Business," Ghost replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Anyways, you were saying something about me? Something which was most likely degrading?"

"I _was_ , you-!"

"Actually, hold that thought. You're bein' pretty damn loud, so I'm gonna need you to take the volume from up here-" Ghost held his hand up so it was level with his head, "- To down here." He dropped his hand down to below his knees, crouching a little. "You don't wanna wake the lil' maiden, do ya?" Ghost asked, hooking a thumb at the child whose head was resting on his own.

Artemis had been stunned into silence, both a being interrupted, and at being interrupted for such _dumb_ things. She was no longer able to formulate words, and Ghost took that as her giving up.

"I'm glad you understand," Ghost said, patting the goddess on the head like a dog. Still shocked, Artemis didn't do much other than let out a small keening noise, which Ghost chose to ignore.

With that, the masked man brushed past the Moon Goddess, and walked in the general direction that the other Hunters had. He had an empty clearing to search for, a tent to sent up, and a child to put down for bed. No pint-sized feminazi was getting in his way today!

And just like, the great goddess Artemis was left standing in the middle of a moonlit forest, looking like a slack-jawed dumbass. Apollo, if he ever heard of it, would never let her live it down.

* * *

 **Another short one. Not all the future ones will be this short, this is only until I stop coming across such nice ending points :P**

 **K bai :D**


	20. Chapter 20

Come morning, Percy woke up with a stiff neck. He had slept on the couch, because Ashley was occupying the bed- _his_ bed- and he didn't particularly feel like getting kicked in the face all night by a tossing toddler.

He rose into a sitting position, rubbing at his crusty eyes. A yawn of gargantuan proportions escaped from his mouth, and with a few deft twists, most of the joints in his body cracked. The man heaved a sigh of relief, then slumped forward slightly. Waking up was a slow, but rewarding progress.

Glancing around, Percy took in the sights of his apartment/tent, which he hadn't seen in quite a while. Six months on Gaia, but closer to six years for him. Luckily, his physical age was not yet high enough that he began to slow down, but it was getting there. By his estimation, he was now about twenty-five, give or take a year or two. Two years in the coma, one year in Tartarus, then another six in that hellhole, starting since he was eighteen.

He might have gotten a few centimeters taller, but other than that, nothing really changed, save for the fact that he was now considered in his prime, and everything would just go downhill from here. Percy let out another sigh, though this one was more somber than the last. Thinking about such heavy things puch such a dampener on his moods, which is why he tried to avoid exactly that.

Slumping backwards, with his head tilted upwards, Percy stared at the ceiling for a long moment, while he cleared his mind. The silence helped, but distractions were much better. It was like the difference between freshwater and saltwater.

Speaking of distractions, one had just entered the room. Percy didn't jump to cover his face, since the sound of a door opening came from behind him, where the bedroom was.

True to his belief, a small head popped around the side of the couch, and rested on the armrest next to him.

"Hi," Ashley muttered, eyes barely open. Her dark hair looked like a jungle, half of it sticking up while the rest was tangled beyond restoration. Percy reached out, doing his best to tame the girl's wild hair, smiling softly.

"Sleep well?" he asked her, stroking her head. Ashley nodded slowly, crinkling the fabric of the couch. She reached up and over the armrest with her stubby arms, hands wide open, as if she was trying to grab something. Interpreting the silent plea, Percy picked the girl up and settled her on his lap, where she rested her head against his chest.

"Anything you wanna do today?" Percy asked, poking the girl's tiny forehead. She scrunched up her nose, and tried to swat his finger away.

"Not really," Ashley muttered, chasing after the offending digit. It was an amusing sight, considering how Ashely wasn't fully awake, and therefore unable to actually catch him.

"Alright, how about meeting the Hunters?"

Ashley stopped her game of cat-and-mouse, pondering the offer. "Who are they?"

"Ah, right," Percy mumbled, slightly embarrassed. He had momentarily forgotten that Akhyls didn't really know _anything_ , so why would the Hunters be any different? "Well, you know Artemis, the Olympian Goddess?"

A pause, and a hesitant nod from the bite-sized goddess in his lap.

"Well, they're like, her handmaidens. She teaches how to hunt, and shoot a bow, and basically how to survive in the wilderness. She also gives them this weird partial-immortality, which keeps them from aging. So, how about it?"

A good portion of that explanation flew over Ashely's head, but she just nodded her head anyways. She could always figure it out later.

"Cool. Well, I've gotta go shower and grab something to eat… That necklace doesn't make you have to use the bathroom, does it?"

"No, I can still use my powers to make myself clean."

Percy heaved a sigh of relief. "Small blessings," he murmured, thanking the Fates profusely in his head. He did _not_ want to have to deal with that. The man transferred the girl from his lap to the couch, and reached for the remote on the coffee table.

"Here," he said, passing it to her, "Press this to turn the TV on, press this to adjust the volume, and these to change the channel. FInd something you like. I'm going to shower."

With that, the girl was left in the living room by herself, staring, bewildered, at the object in her hand.

* * *

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the apartment, and Percy swore loudly in response. He slammed the shower faucet off, and willed the water off his body. In one swift motion, he grabbed the pair of boxers hung on the towel rack, and slipped them on, before bolting outside the bathroom.

"Ashley!" he shouted, head swiveling rapidly in an attempt to locate the girl. When the quick search yielded no results, he sped forward, and finally caught sight of the child. She was curled up on the couch, her small arms covering her head, which was tucked between her knees. Percy crouched in front of the girl, gently prying her arms away from her head.

"Ashley, what's wrong!?" he asked urgently. The girl did not respond verbally. She did, however, point at something behind him with a pudgy finger. Whirling around, Percy was _not_ prepared to see My Little Pony playing quietly on the TV screen.

Confused, Percy stared at the screen for a while, before turning back to the cowering girl. "Ashley…?" he asked slowly, "Are you scared of… Ponies?"

The girl's shivering intensified at the mention of the animal, and Percy died a little inside. He dragged a hand down his face, sighing heavily. "Seriously? Why are you scared of _ponies_ , of all things?"

"They… They look _weird_!"

"You _do_ know that horses move your mother's chariot, right?" Percy asked bemusedly.

"Yes, but they don't look like _that_!" Ashley shouted, pointing blindly at the bright ponies on the screen. Percy examined them more closely, trying to think of differences between Nyx's horse constructs and My Little Pony. They looked the same, besides being animated, as well as the obvious size difference, and...

"Are you scared of the color?" Percy asked, going out on a limb. His hunch seemed to be correct, because the trembling girl nodded frantically.

"Ashley, there's nothing to be scared of. Seriously, colors can't actually do anything, and a lot of things on Gaia are colorful. If you're scared of the rainbow, you're not gonna have a good time."

When he received no response, Percy heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright, I'm going to finish my shower, so you're just gonna have to suck it up." There were still suds in his hair, which he couldn't get rid of like the water, and they were starting to make his hair get stiff.

"Wa- Wait!" Ashley cried, flailing wildly in an attempt to grab. Unfortunately, with his long legs, Percy was out of her reach in moments.

"Bath time waits for no one!" Percy shouted back, walking into the bathroom. He had hair to wash.

* * *

When he came back out to the living room, Percy was not surprised to find Ashley still curled up in a ball, quietly crying. It seemed she had been unable to work up the courage to unfold herself, since My Little Pony was still playing on the TV, though it looked like the episode was winding down.

"Ashley, seriously, you can _not_ cry for a half-hour just because something scares you."

The girl did not reply, instead focusing her efforts on sobbing harder. Percy's head lolled in exasperation, before he finally got sick of her snivelling.

"Alright, enough of that," he said, grabbing the girl by the back of her shirt- which was made of surprisingly strong fabric- and depositing her on his shoulders. Calling upon his black flames, Percy summoned his mask, complete with the new horns, and walked out of his apartment/tent. The little girl's wails transformed into full-on screams, drawing the attention of everything within at least ten miles, which included the Hunters of Artemis. One of whom came to investigate.

"Ah, Thalia! Just the person I wanted to see!" Ghost cried jovially, seemingly ignorant of the ear-piercing shrieks rights next to him. Said Huntress' eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What-?" she began to ask, only to find a crying child shoved in her face.

"Here, take this," Ghost said casually, depositing Ashley in Thalia's arm. The Daughter of Zeus had no choice but to grab her, or let the child fall.

"What in my Father's name did you _do!?_ " Thalia shouted, which only scared poor Ashley even more.

"Relax, Static Shock, I didn't do anything. Turns out this one," Ghost gestured to the crying girl in her arms, "Is scared of rainbows, and My Little Pony seems to have traumatised her. So, I figured dark colors would comfort her, and who's darker than our resident emo?"

"I'm _not_ -! Ugh, forget it. What do I do?" Thalia asked, remembering why she didn't particularly like the masked man.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Maybe because having kids is kinda against our oaths, so of course we're not gonna be trained in how to handle them?"

"Well, I'm definitely not an ideal caretaker," Ghost replied, and Thalia gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Yes, I can _see_ that."

"Just… Do your thing. Vampires are pretty emo, right? Just 'Twilight' it up, or something."

"Oh, I'll 'Twilight it up' when I rip you to pieces, you little-!"

"Ah ah ah! There are young ears present, Miss Nine-Volt Battery. Try to calm down, or you'll end up with high blood pressure like your dad."

Thalia, sick of the bullshit, took a deep breath to center herself. Once calm, she turned on her heels, heading in the direction of the Hunter's camp.

"Where ya goin'?" Ghost asked.

"To find Lady Artemis. Maybe _she_ can handle this, considering she's the Goddess of Childbirth."

The two walked in silence, before a thought came to Ghost.

"Ya know that child _birth_ isn't the same as child _care_ , right?"

Thalia didn't respond, and the two walked in silence for a long while.

"Ya know, for the Lieutenant of an elite group of maidens trained by Artemis herself, you're kinda fuckin' stupid."

* * *

 **I got some motivation back, but that might only be because it's the weekend. Don't expect anything once Monday starts. Luckily, I get school of on Tuesday, because of some elections or some shit, so I might do some work on this.**

 **Also, can I get some hype for chapter 20? :0**

 **K bai :D**


End file.
